Field Workers: Strawberry Harvester (harvest Aid)

Job description

Job Title: Field Workers: Strawberry Harvester (Harvest Aid) and Ranch Maintenance

Employee picks strawberries in varying weather conditions, while adhering to quality standards determined by Company, using physical body motions, including picking fruit, pushing carts and carrying cardboard crates (organic or conventional) weighing up to 10-13 lbs. and plastic crates (freezer and juice) weighing up to 22 lbs when full.

Employees will be required to harvest strawberries using the Harvest Aid. The employee harvests by walking behind the harvest aid as the harvest aid moves across the row from one end to the other. When the employee completes a crate, he/she places the full crate on a platform on the harvest aid and begins anew.

Employees will be required to perform the responsibilities of Strawberry Ground crew. The employee will harvest by walking in the furrow from the middle of the block towards the road where the harvest trailer is located. Once the worker completes the full box of strawberries, he/she will walk to the harvest trailer to place the harvested box on the table for quality inspection and will take an empty box to repeat the process.

When harvesting juice or freezer, the employee will be required to perform this manually or in the case of freezer, it may require the use of a blade to remove berry from the plant.

When working with the harvest aid or ground crew, the employee is required to work as part of a team of harvesters and the employee is expected to maintain a similar pace to the harvest aid and/or ground crew team members. The aid harvest team is able to control the speed at which the harvest aid moves across the field. Employee will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the harvested strawberries meets quality and inspection requirements.

Employee will also be responsible for ranch maintenance, which will include pulling weeds by hand or with use of sickle, picking up trash throughout the ranch, fixing plastic fence with use of plyers or sickle. The workers will complete weed removal job duties for less than 20 % of their weekly work time. Employer will provide training to perform the weed removal job duties. Repair strawberry beds with use of shovel to pull plastic and reshape the bed. Pre-plant Irrigation pipe set up, which includes loading/unloading a pair of 40-ft aluminum pipe weighing approximately 18 lbs. each. Setting up aluminum pipes on open ground and manually connecting them. This activity is done in pairs. Bed up, includes filling the strawberry bed with soil and lining of the edge of each bed with use of rope and shovel. Cut roads, by using a sickle and shovel to cut the mulch on the marked edge of the bed that’s installed on the beds to create the road that separates each harvesting block where the picking trailers will be parked. Open entry way for furrows by shoveling the soil out of the way. Install/remove irrigation system, drip tape and plastic. Plant clean-up performed by manually pulling dry/old leaves from each plant, throughout the furrows.

Special Requirements

Three months of experience in harvesting strawberries. Cannot be color blind due to the need to distinguish colors of crops for proper ripeness and maturity, no smoking, illegal drugs, alcohol, or weapons of any sort in the housing or work fields. Ability to communicate in English or Spanish is required for training and safety purposes. Work is performed outdoors in open fields and can involve exposure to sun, wind, mud, dust, heat, cold and other elements of the normal field environment. Temperatures can range from 50 degrees F to over 90 degrees F during the period of employment. Workers should come prepared with appropriate clothing and footwear for the work and working conditions described. Employer complies with California laws applicable to hand weeding.

See addendum C