Members of the team of Bee Vera Construction in Healdsburg. From left to right: José Eduardo Vera Velázquez, owner, Oscar Alfredo Pimentel, José Luis Bautista Garcia, Manuel Castro Blanco, Neri Nestor Reyes Castro and Marco Antonio Zarco Garcia. [Photo courtesy José Eduardo Vera Velázquez]
Oscar Rojas, owner of Rojas Painting in Petaluma, says Latinos who are U.S. citizens are an important resource. These individuals tend to be more familiar with safety requirements and do not face obstacles that require a person to be a U.S. citizen. “I am Mexican American and my crew is composed of Mexican, Mexican American and Guatemalan workers,” says Rojas. “Roughly half of our business is high-end new construction. Our work has to be close to perfect. It helps that I am able to introduce workers who may be new to the U.S. and to regulations. That can differ between cities. I also teach my crew how to communicate well with customers.” There are construction employers in the North Bay that take advantage of recent immigrants, says Isela Gaona. She is a case manager at Kerosky & Gallelli Law in Santa Rosa and a 2024 graduate in Chicano and Latino studies from Sonoma State University. “One of my classes, Latin American Migration to the United States, involved interviewing workers at the Graton Day Labor Center. Many were willing to take any job they could in construction,” says Gaona. She adds some of the people from whom she heard stories had crossed two or three borders, worked at jobs where they were underpaid and were not given the right safety equipment. “They also were not taught safety regulations or how to do work safely,” says Gaona. “Some weren’t given full or any lunch hours or breaks. Others were expected to work through extreme heat. Hearing their stories opened my eyes as to how much needs to change.”
Statistics and the stories behind them Nationally, 40.8%, or more than one in three, construction workers are Hispanic, according to the 2023 Current Population Survey published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The term “Hispanic” means a person from a Spanish-speaking country. The term “Latino” means a person of Latin American descent. This includes people from Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil and English-speaking countries like Belize. California has a higher percentage of Hispanic workers in construction, close to 55%. The figure has the potential to increase because Hispanics’ participation in the labor force has not returned to pre-COVID levels. The information comes from a 2023 report from The Libre Institute, a Virginia-based nonprofit that engages and informs the U.S. Hispanic community. It is difficult to pin down the number of Hispanic people in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties who work in construction. The number is constantly changing, due to fluctuations in the workforce. It is also likely to be underreported. Some undocumented immigrants and employers can be hesitant to share information. In addition, a number of individuals work side jobs in construction and hold primary jobs in other fields, like agriculture. The number of Hispanic people in the construction labor force has markedly increased over time. In 2013, nationally, only one in four construction workers was Hispanic. Liliana Gallelli, attorney and partner in Kerosky & Gallelli Law in Santa Rosa, says the national background of Latinos who are
32 NorthBaybiz
August 2024
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