This summer Father Brendan Curran, a young priest at Pilsen’s Saint Pius V Church, was asked to write the reflection for Labor in the Pulpits, a nationwide celebration of workers held the Sunday before Labor Day. He thought of Pedro and Leticia, a Guatemalan couple new to his parish.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
“We got some of the hardest work because we didn’t have the legal status,” says Pedro, who was often assigned to clean out sweltering ovens in a gum factory. Leticia frequently worked in a print shop, packaging cardboard cutouts promoting, among other things, Miller Lite beer. The printers paid the agency $15 an hour per employee, but she earned $5.15 and was charged $2 for the van ride to and from the job. “Sometimes you had to work harder than the machines worked,” she says. “That’s why they paid you and didn’t just have the machine.”
After the fire Pedro and Leticia gave up day labor. He’s now a landscaper, and she’s a baby-sitter. “We constantly run into people who still work for the agency,” she says. “We’re always saddened and frustrated, because it’s a tough situation.”
Saint Pius, 1919 S. Ashland, has invited labor leaders to speak at all six of its masses this Sunday. English masses are at 7:45 and 11 AM, Spanish masses at 9:15 AM and 1:15, 4:30, and 6:30 PM. For more details call 312-226-6161. There’s more about Labor in the Pulpits at nicwj.org. To find other participating congregations call the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues at 773-728-8400.
