Disaster recovery

Recovering from Climate Disasters: Immigrant Day Laborers as "Second Responders" (2022)

  • Author: Nik Theodore
  • Through a survey of 171 day laborers that was conducted eight weeks after Hurricane Ida made landfall, this report examines the employment conditions of informally employed construction and disaster-recovery workers in the New Orleans area. It finds an array of substandard conditions that impact workers’ wages, as well as their health and safety on the job, and offers recommendations for improving working conditions during post-disaster recovery operations.

"Day Laborers in the Eye of the Storm," NACLA Report on the Americas 52(2): 192-198 (2020)

  • Author: Nik Theodore
  • As climate crises make post-disaster recovery work ever more essential, protecting migrant laborers from hazardous conditions and exploitation is an increasingly urgent task.

After the Storm: Houston's Day Labor Markets in the Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey (2017)

  • Author: Nik Theodore
  • This report examines the employment conditions of informally employed construction workers in Houston. Through a survey of 361 day laborers that was conducted a few weeks after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city, this report reveals how substandard conditions impact workers’ wages, as well as their health and safety on the job, and offers recommendations for improving working conditions during post-disaster recovery operations.