The action came at the request of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 and has backing from the Columbia-Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council.

The labor organizations sent letters to Mayor Tom Potter stating their displeasure.

“It’s the facility we’re opposing, not the day workers,” emphasized Judy O’Connor, executive secretary-treasurer of the Labor Council.

John Endicott, business manager of Local 290, said a city-financed day labor facility provides encouragement for day laborers.

“Currently, there is an incredibly well-honed system in place to coordinate workers, provide them with job opportunities, negotiate health care, and ensure a family wage. It’s called organized labor,” Endicott said.

John Mohlis, executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbia-Pacific Building Trades Council, said having a day labor facility likely would do nothing to alleviate the real problem, which is employers exploiting workers for cheap labor. “If the city wants to do something, maybe it should look at the people hiring day laborers,” he said.

Union officials also are miffed at their exclusion from a committee comprised of self-identified stakeholders such as day laborers, Hispanic organizations, businesses, churches and neighborhood groups.

“It was an oversight not to reach out to labor,” said Kevin Easton of the mayor’s office.

Potter and the City Council set aside a $200,000 grant as part of the Safe Access For Everyone (SAFE) public safety initiative. The money will be used as “seed money” to help find and secure a location for a day labor center and to contract with a non-profit organization to operate it. Easton said the city hopes the creation of a hiring center will spur more investment from the private and public sectors.

Potter has hired a consultant for $20,000 to act as project manager. A request for proposal to operate the center will be release Oct. 9. Proposals are due back Oct. 26. The goal is to have a new day labor center operational by January 2008.

A location has yet to be secured, but Easton said the committee is actively looking at available sites in the city that are currently up for lease or purchase, and possibly space that would be donated.

Currently, day laborers search for work on street corners along SE 6th Avenue near East Burnside and SE Ankeny Street. Employers and homeowners looking for workers drive through and pick up whomever they need. The city, Easton said, estimates the day worker population to be 80 to 120 people, depending on the season,

Since the upheaval, the mayor’s office has reached out to union officials and several meetings have been held with other stakeholders to try to reach some common ground.

“At least we have a seat at the table,” said John Kirkpatrick, a business representative of Painters District Council 5, who attended a meeting on Sept. 5. “We can at least keep an eye on what’s happening.”