Farmworkers And Laborers

Job description

General Farm Labor: Workers will walk along rows as specified by the employer and remove weeds and grass from fields by hand or using a hoe. Workers do not load packed final products onto trucks for shipment. Cultivate and hand-harvest harvest sweet potatoes. Load and unload sweet potato. May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities prolonged walking, standing, bending, stooping, and reaching. The job is outdoors and continues in all types of weather. Workers may be requested to submit to random drug or alcohol tests at no cost to the worker. Failure to comply with the request or testing positive may result in immediate termination. All testing will occur post-hire and is not a part of the interview process. A negative result may be required post-hire and before commencing work. Must be able to lift 75 lbs. to shoulder height repetitively throughout the workday and able to lift and carry 75 lbs. in the field. Must not hinder another worker's productivity. Use of a personal cell phone or another personal electronic device during working hours is strictly prohibited except for work-related calls or emergencies, and violation may result in immediate termination. Requires one month of verifiable prior farmworker experience in the crop activities listed.

Flu-Cured Tobacco Transplant and Harvest: Workers will ride a mechanical transplanter, putting the small tobacco plants into the ground. Workers may also get tasked to walk all day behind the transplanter, filling in the gaps to reset the skips left behind by the crew riding the transplanter. Workers must remove all flowering tops and suckers from tobacco plants. Workers may assist in removing tobacco from the barn and placing it in the packer to be bound. Workers are required to work in fields when tobacco leaves are wet with dew and rain or whenever the tobacco has been pushed over by a windstorm. Workers should be able to stand for prolonged periods of time to prime (pull) leaves which are from two to ten inches from the ground. Workers may be exposed to noxious plants and insects as well as temperatures while working in tobacco fields. Workers will walk through a row of mature tobacco plants, which may be 4 to 6 feet tall and spaced 20 inches apart in each row. Rows can be up to a quarter mile. Starting at the bottom of the plant, the worker will bend over at the waist and pick the bottom two or three leaves from each plant when they are cropping by hand. staying bent over, the worker will move down the row of mature tobacco repeating the above process. The bottom leaves may be as low as two inches from the ground. The worker will place the picked leaves under his arm; once the worker has cropped an armload of the leaves, he will carry it to the field sled or trailer. The leaves must be laid neatly into the field sled. The worker then will return to the row and repeat the process. All workers must be able to distinguish ripe tobacco by observing the color of the leaves. Care must be exercised to prevent the breaking of the plants. Workers must be able to move quickly along rows and move in unison with the field sleds. Workers may also ride mechanical harvester. Workers must be able to perform the job as described above. The pay rate for tobacco work is hourly paid.

Transplant Sweet potatoes: workers will ride a mechanical transplanter for long periods of time. Workers will stoop, bend, and kneel to transplant sweet potato slips using their hands and fingers to dig in the ground and make sure that the slip is properly planted. Workers will also cut their own sweet potato slips into a 40-pound box and then carry it to a field wagon, loading it so it can be transplanted. Transplanting sweet potato slips will be paid hourly.

Please see addendum C

Special Requirements

Prolonged walking, standing, bending, stooping, and reaching. Job is outdoors and continues in all types of weather. Workers may be requested to submit to random drug or alcohol tests at no cost to the worker. Failure to comply with the request or testing positive may result in immediate termination. All testing will occur post hire and is not a part of the interview process. Negative result may be required post-hire and before commencing work. Must be able to lift 75 lbs. to shoulder height repetitively throughout the workday and able to lift and carry 75 lbs. in field. Must not hinder another worker's productivity. Use of personal cell phone or other personal electronic device during working hours strictly prohibited except for work-related calls or emergencies and violation may result in immediate termination. Requires one month verifiable prior farmworker experience in the crop activities listed.