Day Laborer Hiring Area Closed : Business: Attempt to establish site in parking lot of building-supply store fails quickly because of complaints from companies and customers. Organizers will seek to open a new center for workers.

A hiring area for day laborers that was recently established near a local building-supply store has been abolished because of complaints from businesses and customers.

Fabian Nunez and Francisco Espinosa, who had persuaded Grossman’s store to set up benches and a canopy near the parking lot for the comfort of day laborers, said they will now ask the Pomona City Council for help in establishing a permanent hiring center.

Grossman’s manager, MicheleCase, said the canopy and benches were removed Wednesday because too many laborers were coming.

She said the problem began several months ago when men started gathering in the parking lot every day to seek jobs from contractors who were picking up building supplies.

Customers complained of harassment; police were called to disperse the gatherings, and eventually dozens of laborers were arrested for loitering.

Nunez, a businessman and Latino activist, and Espinosa, executive vice president of the Pomona Valley Latino Chamber of Commerce, tried to solve the problem by persuading Grossman’s to designate a hiring area.

Nunez said he thought the plan, which began Nov. 1, had worked well. The laborers followed the rules and kept the area clean, he said.

But Case said more job-seekers arrived each day. A few months ago, there were about a dozen laborers in the parking lot, she said. By last week there were 60 or more men, attracted in part by the free coffee and doughnuts served by volunteers every morning. “It was an incredible mess,” she said. “My customers were complaining.”

Case said some customers were intimidated after being approached by men asking for work; others said they worried that the men might steal tools from their trucks.

Neighboring merchants said they were losing customers because of the presence of the laborers, said John Goodwin, an employee of Elman Property Investments, which manages the shopping center that contains Grossman’s, a fast-food restaurant and other businesses. Goodwin, saying his firm was not consulted before the hiring center was established, asked Grossman’s to abolish it because of the complaints.

Espinosa said the parking lot hiring center was always viewed as a temporary location until a regular employment office could be established. He said he is willing to pay the rent himself if a suitable location can be found. The laborers deserve assistance, not eviction, the chamber official said, adding, “I don’t think it is a crime for anybody to go looking for work.”

Nunez said he will ask the City Council for help in finding a site for the hiring hall. It’s not just an issue regarding one shopping center, he said.

“It’s a problem that we all face. And we have to deal with it,” he said.