Field Workers: Strawberry Ground Harvester
Employer
Reiter Berry Farms: Beach Ranch- 2252 West Beach Road
Watsonville, CA 95076
United States
Job description
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 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 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 ground crew team members. Employee will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the harvested strawberries meets quality and inspection requirements.
Workers must be able to perform the job and its requirements as defined in this clearance order after a reasonable period of on-the job training.
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.