Heavy Labor Harvesters (celery)

Job description

We note that his application is intended to cover an extended celery planting season in and around Monterey County. Many of the Company’s current domestic celery employees (who have been working with the Company since June 2023) traditionally end their celery harvesting season with the Company in Salinas by mid-October and return to their homes in and around Oxnard, California to work in the Company’s fall and winter harvest season in Oxnard, California. While these domestic employees will become corresponding workers during the period of employment overlapping this H-2A contract starting October 21, 2024 and going through their regular end of season departure timeframe around mid-November, 2024, we anticipate that most of the current domestic celery workers will turn down the opportunity to continue to work in Salinas, California under this H-2A contract as they will likely return to their families in and around Oxnard, California and continue working the celery harvest with the Company, as they normally work, for its fall/winter celery harvest in Oxnard, California.

Job Duties - Description of the Specific Services or Labor to be Performed

This job description is for heavy labor harvesters working in celery.

A member of a heavy labor harvest crew working in celery must be able to perform all the responsibilities and general job specifications outlined below:

The employee must work as a member of a celery heavy labor harvest crew performing the following tasks in the harvesting of celery under the direction of a foreperson or supervisor. Employees shall work under close supervision of a crew leader and receive specific instructions on required tasks and results expected. Employees perform routine tasks that require a limited exercise of judgment to eventually build harvesting skills and efficiencies. Specifically, an employee:

• Harvests produce by walking in assigned furrows, on top of growing beds behind or in front of a harvesting machine platform or harvesting cart, selecting size and quality of the produce to be harvested as specified by the supervisor; Bends and grasps selected produce and cuts it from its roots and or stalks using a harvesting knife; Trims the product according to specifications of supervisor; Discards produce that does not meet specified quality standards; and inserts trimmed produce meeting quality specifications into specified packaging or containers and/or places the freshly harvested produce on the table for taping/clipping by the clipper and packing by packer in the field.

• Must not place produce on the table which does not meet the specifications set forth by the supervisor for the crop being harvested, nor leave un-harvested produce which meets such specifications.

• Tapes/Clips/Seals/Packs product in the field as needed before placing it in the container for shipment.

Packers will secure empty containers from designated racks, insert whatever lining might be required, proceed to fill the container with product as directed by a supervisor, and place the container on a conveyor belt or on the furrow, as required to be sealed and ready for palletizing, loading, and shipment to the cooler.

• Can work as a Button Operator on any of the harvest machines. Responsible for establishing the speed of the harvest machine at the direction of the Foreperson, lifting or lowering the wings of the harvester, as required, and operating the control panel that allows the Button Operator to perform the above functions and in addition control the carousel speed, water supply and a kill switch to inactivate the harvest machine in an emergency.

The Button Operator may also be used as a safety monitor to assist the Machine Operator to ensure safety when the machines are turning in the fields to begin a new pass and may assist the Machine Operator in opening and closing machines.

• Moves cartons weighing from 32-66 pounds, as required.

Special Requirements

Employee must stand, sit, crouch, bend, reach, lift and carry items weighing up to 66 pounds in the course of performing required activities. Employees must listen to, understand, and follow instructions of Company row bosses, forepersons, supervisors and managers.

Employees are expected to assist in maintaining work areas and Company property in a neat and clean condition by not littering or in any deliberate way defacing Company property.

Rest and meal periods must be taken in the assigned area(s) for food safety reasons unless an off-site rest or meal period is elected by the employee.

Work is performed in open fields and may involve exposure to mud, dust, wind, heat, cold, and other natural elements. Temperatures can range from 30 degrees Fahrenheit to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the period of employment. Employees should come prepared with appropriate clean clothing and footwear for the environmental and working conditions described.