Talks to resolve the use of the Home Depot store parking lot in Cicero as a pick-up point for day laborers have slowed even after the company hired a negotiatior to work with the city.
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Shortly after a number of laborers were arrested last summer and again in January because the store complained to police, Home Depot told the Town Council it had hired negotiator Trudy Nichols to meet with local officials and the Latino Union, an advocacy group representing the workers.
There were talks until April, said a company spokesman, and there have been no arrests since January. But the company and Cicero disagree over the progress toward a compromise.
Home Depot spokesman Yancey Casey said the company asked Cicero in April to write a letter stating what the company can do to resolve the issue. “As I understand it, the ball is in their court,” Casey said. “We’re just waiting for their word right now.”
But Cicero spokesman Dan Proft denied the existence of such a letter. “Home Depot is mistaken or confused,” he said. “From Day 1, we said we aren’t going to force or take a formal position on a solution. All we want to do is help facilitate a constructive dialogue.”
Problems with the day laborers and Home Depot stem from the arrests of 55 laborers last summer at the store on West 26th Street and South Cicero Avenue. They were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after store employees pointed them out to police. Five more laborers were arrested in January.
Lately the store hasn’t been calling police even though the laborers continue to congregate in the parking lot.