Agricultural Field Work

[ilbegone]

Jean,

These things are important, so I hope you don't mind if I make the entry a little more readable:

This was advertised in the local paper. You'll notice the pay is not minimum wage, housing and transportation is included and the gov. provides medical, education, food, legal fees and just about any and everything they need.

And don't think they live in a shack, some have recently been built and are very nice places to lay your hat.

The growers complain they can't get enough workers, but those workers I've spoken with say they can't get enough work. Some of the jobs pay more than what is posted here. They get paid hourly plus piece work.

HELP WANTED

Agricultural Field Workers -

Plan and cultivate crops for vegetable and fruit production; Set up, operate, and maintain irrigation equipment; Irrigate soils and plants, using pipes and ditch systems; Pull plans for transplanting; Set plants by hand and perform activities on a plant setter; Perform hand cultivation tasks, hand weeding, and hoeing in field; Load and unload supplies, packing equipment, and machinery with water, soap and chemicals; Keep count of harvested and loaded crops, ensuring accuracy of all counts, record keeping, overages, shortages, wrong product harvested and other record keeping; Unload packing supplies from equipment; Pick vegetable/fruits from plants or use knife to remove vegetable/fruit from plant according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity; Remove bloom end and place individual vegetable/ fruit in container or on conveyor belt of packing machine; May work on packing equipment; Circulate and push vegetable/fruit in a water tank; May separate vegetable/fruit according to size and uniformity and place in container; and Close container after packing and stacks full containers according to size.

$10.24 per hour.

The employer guarantees to offer the worker employment for a total number of work hours equal to at least three-fourths of the workdays of the total period beginning with the first workday after the arrival of the worker at the place of employment or the advertised contractual first day of need, whichever is later, and ending on the expiration date specified in the work contract or in its extensions, if any.

Housing will be made available at no cost to all workings within a reasonable commuting distance.

Transportation and subsistence expenses to the work site will be provided by the employer or paid by the employer upon completion of 50% of the work contract, or earlier, if appropriate in the amount of $11.13.

This is a temporary position. 45 positions are available.

Applicants must apply at the State Workforce Agency in Sacramento, California.

800 Capitol Mall, MIC-55 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 653-9900. Job Order number: CA12900564. Job Location: Pacific Country Labor, Inc., 957 Faulkner Rd., Suite 211, Santa Paula, CA 93060.

Something to be noted is that the employer isn't paying for the housing, this is redistribution of income from the taxpayer ( When I was working in Oxnard I remember seeing a Spanish language flyer which detailed state subsidized agricultural housing and just who was proudly claiming credit for bringing it about).

They will probably utilize the state agricultural van pool program, so the taxpayers pick up the dime on that also.

This is the first I've heard of a farmer paying subsistence and travel expense, but the figure of $11.13 is meaningless the way it's written. Is that per day, month, or what? Note the carrot / stick presented in that it will kick in only after the job is halfway complete, lots of weasel room there in more than two directions.

If I were to get a $10.00 job, no one in government would provide me with subsidized housing to live in, perhaps for months between jobs (as it can be in agricultural work). How much does this break down towards yearly compensation on the taxpayer, and does this sort of thing contribute to the fact that what isn't paid through the front door with wages and benefits is paid through the back door via the tax base, in other words, how much would free market monthly rent would tenants pay on the units without subsidization?

When I saw that flier, I could not help but think that the subsidized housing would be defacto segregation. I believe I would not be be eligible under affirmative discrimination (wrong skin color) and even if I were, there would be some tenants who would purposefully try to induce me to move out (I've worked with illegals before, some are cool if they get to trust you, otherwise many can be devious passive - aggressive backstabbers with degree of aggressiveness depending on whether they need something from you or are waiting for any number of any type of of opportunities (such as talking crap about you to the boss behind your back - to get you fired in order to make an opening for cousin Luis). Usually the ones with any authority are unmitigated assholes - I've seen a few exceptions. I figure I can trust about 1 in 20, regardless of how my ass is kissed. On the other hand, despite how gregarious they tend to be among one another and how poor Mexicans share among one another, I don't think there's a lot of trust beyond their own families and proven friends - no one can screw a Mexican over like another Mexican and a borrachera can lead to some very regretful incidents over really stupid stuff. And it seems that a part of the Mexican consciousness assumes that guero is out to get the Mexican. My perception and confusion about who is what is that a Mexican who truly gives his genuine friendship will always be there for you, otherwise there's merely degrees of subtlety of social lubrication. However, I personally have a fondness for good, old school Mexican women - no one will treat you better.).