Great turn-out today celebrating the contributions of day Laborer Leader Fernando Pedraza as related to the meaning of Cinco de Mayo (when the Mexican people with less arms and resources defeated the French army in Puebla).

On Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), 2007, a spontaneous demonstration by the Minutemen against day laborers on the corner of Arrow Highway and Grove Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga, ended with the death of day laborer leader Jose Fernando Pedraza. Fifty-seven-year-old Pedraza died at the corner where he waited on a daily basis for one-day jobs. It is also the corner where Pedraza organized other day laborers to defend their rights. In 2002, Pedraza was part of a court case against the City of Rancho Cucamonga who wanted to enforce a law disallowing day laborers to gather on the street. In the recent months before his death, Pedraza had attended several meetings of the Rancho Cucamonga city council to support his fellow day laborers so that they could have a job center where they could be safe from hate-based attacks and traffic accidents.