Employer in Pay Dispute Gives $1,000 to Agency

A Granada Hills man, whose home was picketed last week by Central American laborers who claimed he cheated them out of $1,600 in pay, on Monday promised to join the workers if they picket the Los Angeles store owner they worked for.

At a news conference, Fernando Esquivia recalled his own years as an undocumented worker and said he was donating $1,000 to Proyecto Pastoral, an agency helping the laborers collect their wages.

Esquivia, who owns a Hollywood grocery, also reiterated that he did not owe the men money and said he merely tried to find them work with the Los Angeles store owner, who is a friend of Esquivia. Esquivia’s version was challenged by Father Tom Smolich, a Jesuit priest who is executive director of Proyecto Pastoral.

“He says he did not hire them,” Smolich said by phone. “I think the $1,000 says something else. . . .”