Farmworker

Job description

LS.A. Contracting Services, Inc. is a harvesting company providing labor to growers for the harvesting of green tomatoes. Various duties and positions are covered by this clearance order and are listed below:

Tomato Picker:
As a tomato picker (farm laborer), employees must report to the field location and receives assignment from the supervisor as to where to begin picking tomatoes from the tomato plants. Each employee will be issued two 20-liter plastic buckets every day to perform the harvest. The employee will harvest by hand the size, quality, and color tomatoes requested by the company and place them individually into the 20-liter bucket until it is full, (a 20-liter bucket filled with tomatoes will approximately weighs up to 25-lbs.). Next, the employee will carry both full buckets an approximate distance of up to 20 ft. to a nearby gondola, hand bucket one at a time to the dumper who receives it and as he returns the empty 20-liter buckets back to the employee, the employee returns back to the tomato plant row being harvested and resumes harvesting tomatoes. The employee will repeat this process throughout the workday.

Tomato Puncher:
As a tomato punch (farm laborer), employees must report to the field location and receive assignment from the supervisor as to where to begin picking tomatoes from the tomato plants. As the buckets are filled and carried by the tomato pickers to the dumping area to be dumped, the puncher who is standing nearby the gondola will punch the tomato card using a metal card puncher that requires using force equivalent to approximately 1 pound. The puncher will climb approximately 2 ft. on to a narrow bar between the tractor and gondola to punch tomato cards for the tomato pickers on the opposite side of the gondola. Also, the puncher is in charge of quality control and assists the tractor driver by making sure that the area is clear when moving the tractor forward. The puncher repeats this process throughout the workday and may punch an average of 4,000 to 6,000 punches during a typical workday.

Field Assistant:
The field assistant must report to the field location to receive the daily work assignment from the field supervisor. The field assistant must be able to read and write to perform all the field inspection logs of the equipment daily, keep written record of all safety related incidents that may occur during the work shift and do a written report, also, register new workers. Must assist the field supervisor with duties such as providing daily cards to the foreman, handing out buckets to the workers, keeping track of the trailer numbers, and write the trailer tags, assist with all H-2A worker responsibilities, ensure and document that all Covid related sanitation requirements are followed by all the workers and in all related equipment. The Field Assistant must have excellent people skills to help the field supervisor coordinate, direct company policies and daily procedures, must understand quality control of the harvest of fresh market tomatoes, (size, color, maturity, shape), must be able to climb up to 8-10 feet high on to the field equipment and/or trailer and sometimes into the trailer, also to a metal dumping stand/platform hooked on to the edge of the gondola about 4 feet off the ground when needed, must be to able to receive by grabbing, lifting, and dumping approximately a 25 pound bucket full of tomatoes and at times carry two buckets of tomatoes between 25-50 pounds throughout the work day when necessary. Must be able to operate/drive field equipment in a proficient manner forward and backwards with a tomato trailer attached. Also, assist prior to the start of harvest regular maintenance of all the field equipment used daily during the season, assist in the initial set up, and during the season. Excellent communication skills are a must.

Special Requirements

Workers must have 3 month with experience in agricultural work or harvesting of fresh market tomatoes by hand, dumping tomatoes in gondolas, punching tomato cards, operation of farm equipment, or experience as field assistant. Workers with a clean MVR and able to obtain an insurable driver's license may be requested to drive company vehicles. Eligible workers may be asked to drive other workers with Cal Vans. No workers will be terminated for failure to obtain a drivers license. All new employees are subject to a post-hire, employer-paid drug test. Any employee who declines to take or fails this drug test will be terminated and paid for all hours worked, if any. Must be able to lift and carry up to 50lbs. Certain duties on this agricultural clearance order may require workers to lift and carry up to 100lbs, but the minimum requirement for this occupation is 50lbs.