Fruit And Vegetable Harvesting, Packing, And Field Work

Job description

The worker will perform job duties as assigned by the supervisor. They will vary from time to time depending on crop ripening and weather. The watermelon, pumpkin, and cucumber harvesting, packing, and field work is temporary and will last from June to November.

Watermelon Hand Harvesting-In order to perform this kind of work, the worker must be able to walk down the field row and use a knife to hand-cut ripe watermelons off the vine for harvesting. The watermelons are then loaded in a bus by forming part of an assembly line, in which the first worker bends down picks up the watermelon and it is passed on to consecutive workers by passing, catching, lifting, until it reaches the worker on the bus, who then sets it down and stacks them until the bus is considered full.

Watermelon and Pumpkin Packing- The watermelon and pumpkin is transported by bus to the packing shed. Upon its arrival, it is unloaded by a group of workers and placed on a conveyer belt. The group of workers on the conveyer belt are responsible for sorting, labeling, and packing the watermelon and pumpkin in cardboard containers. While the workers are waiting on the next load of watermelons to arrive, they will be responsible for assembling card board containers.

Field Work- During the contract, the worker will plant dead plants with new plants, weed beds, and perform other miscellaneous work.

Field Drivers-The field drivers will drive the buses or loading trucks out to the field where the field workers who are harvesting the watermelons, pumpkins, and cucumbers, and will load them onto the bus or loading truck until full. They will then drive the fully loaded bus or loading trucks back to the packing shed where the packing shed workers will unload them onto a belt. The process is then repeated again.

Equipment and Vehicle Operation-The workers may need to drive and/or operate various agricultural farm equipment and vehicles to perform the work on the farm such as field trucks, tractors, and forklifts. The workers must use safety and precaution when using agricultural farm equipment and vehicles. All passengers must be seated and practice safety and precaution. The passengers must wait to exit the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles when the driver comes to a complete stop and gets off the vehicle. The workers will keep the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles free of trash. Only properly licensed drivers will be permitted to operate the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles.

Workers must take care to operate all equipment safely and follow all safety requirements outlined by the employer.
All of the watermelon, pumpkin, and cucumber harvesting, packing, and transporting labor are performed on the farms specifically in the work-sites listed on the application and itinerary and are all a part of the watermelon, pumpkin, and cucumber farming operation. The field drivers, which are employees of M & R Gomez Crops, Inc. are
the ones that drive the buses being used in the field to load the watermelons, pumpkins, and cucumbers, and take them to the shed for packing. The packing shed workers are employees of M & R Gomez Crops, Inc. The packing shed is located on the farms listed on the harvesting itinerary. The packing of watermelons, pumpkins, and cucumbers is considered agriculture labor because the work is being done on a farm and the watermelons, pumpkins, and cucumbers are a horticultural commodity that must be packed by grade before leaving the farm for selling purposes at the market. The watermelons, pumpkins, and cucumbers are in unmanufactured state at the time of
packing and all the watermelons are produced on the farm. M & R Gomez Crops, Inc. is the operator of the farms for the time period requested.

Special Requirements

The worker must be responsible and consistent on the job. The worker must be able to lift 0-75 lbs., do repetitive movements, extensive pushing and pulling, walking, frequent stooping continuously throughout the day, and work in all kinds of weather conditions.