Subcontracting work via social networks: migrant Latino Labour and the rebuilding of New Orleans

Abstract

The unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina attracted tens of thousands of Latino migrants to work in clean‐up and reconstruction jobs in the New Orleans area. This study uses a survey of Latino workers in New Orleans and interviews from various actors involved in the recruitment and hiring of migrant labour – including employers, subcontractors, and the workers themselves – to explore how migrant networks function. In particular, it highlights the key role of migrant entrepreneur subcontractors in drawing new migrants and securing them jobs in unfamiliar destinations. This is of conceptual importance to migration theory because it highlights the need to expand the dominant concept of social networks to include employers, recruiters, and other migrant service‐providers. Latino migration to New Orleans provides insight into the complexity of contemporary network migration, including the overlapping roles of friend, family, and employer. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gendered constraints on a strategy of regional mobility: Latino/a migration to post‐Katrina New Orleans

“…This data was collected as part of a larger project that focused on labour subcontracting and the conditions of undocumented immigrant workers (Blue & Drever, 2011; Drever & Blue, 2011). Survey and interview data were obtained using a purposive sample of 272 Latino/a migrants in three periods, during May–June 2006, August 2007, and December 2007–January 2008.…”

“…Men’s wages were significantly higher, but success and stability often depended on their relationship with their subcontractor and his ability to secure continuous work (see Blue & Drever, 2011). In contrast, being employed directly through the hotel increased job security for many women.…”

Precarization, Informalization, and Marx

“…They are also marked by chains of subcontractors, and architectural and engineering firms subcontract to, for example, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, masons, etc., all of whom hire helpers as sub-subcontractors themselves. Undocumented immigrants in the North are often hired for these jobs, whether they are already present or recruited by network members from abroad (Blue and Drever 2010; Corcoran 1991; Fellini, Ferro, and Fullin 2003) and do not tend to be unionized. Calling construction work informalized, deregulated, and precarious, Torres et al (2013) point out that the major dynamic in the exploitation within the industry is the drive to lower the costs of labor.…”

Urban infrastructure as materialized consensus

“…The failure of increasingly complex, interconnected water systems was most recently manifested at the time of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the city's levees broke resulting in over 1,500 deaths and $40-50 billion in damages (Kates et al 2006). The disaster also precipitated longterm changes in the city's character when thousands of residents permanently migrated leaving a gap of occupation that brought in new inhabitants including a large influx of Spanish-speaking migrants (Blue and Drever 2011).…”