Citrus Hand Harvester (wc)

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Crops/Commodities:
Citrus Commodities.
Citrus Harvesting Activities:

Workers will perform hand harvesting of citrus crops. Following the Supervisors instructions, the worker will walk down the rows/aisles for the purposes of harvesting citrus crops by placing a picking sack over their shoulder and carrying a 18' to 20' ladder from the field truck to the particular area of the grove to be harvested. Supervisors will explain and demonstrate picking requirements to all workers at the start of the season and as needed thereafter to ensure quality standards. The picking sack is a canvas bag equipped with a shoulder strap for support, an opening for the insertion of fruit, and an opening to remove fruit. A fully loaded sack weighs between approximately 80 and 100 pounds, depending upon the size, condition and variety of fruit. Worker positions the ladder against the tree and within reach of the fruit in a leaning position, taking care not to break limbs, damage the tree, knock off fruit, or interfere with other workers, in a secure position to prevent slipping or falling and possible injury to themselves or other workers. Workers will remove fruit from the tree and place it into a pick sack. When the pick sack is full, workers will take the full sack to the fruit box/tub located in the grove and drop fruit from the pick sack into the box/tub. Bruised or damaged fruit will be noted by supervisors during quality control checks. Supervisors may issue written disciplinary notice to workers with a significant number of culls, bruised or damaged fruit. Repeated failure to follow quality control instructions may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

Workers may operate agricultural machinery to load and unload harvesting containers off of trailers to place in harvesting groves. Operate ag machinery to load filled containers in groves and place on trailers for shipment.

In order to perform this kind of work, worker must be able to work outside for at least 7 hours a day in all kinds of weather and be in possession of the requisite physical strength and endurance to repeat the picking process rapidly, working quickly and skillfully with their hands, and carrying a large number of sacks of fruit from the area in which the fruit is being harvested to the location of the field box or tub. Workers must work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking.

General Citrus Planting & Grove Maintenance:

Following the supervisors instructions, the worker will drive and control farm equipment for mowing,spraying, and maintaining harvest crops. Operate agricultural equipment to spray pesticides to groves for maintenance of crops. Workers on physical work restrictions or when harvesting work is not available will be required to perform miscellaneous clean-up work on grove property, on structures utilized in the grove operation, and on housing for harvesting workers. Plant, cultivate and harvest citrus fruits. Clean-up activities include the sprouting, and pruning; debris, weed, and vine removal; irrigation repair; housing and structure cleaning and repair; and general grove clean-up as required. Workers will be paid the highest of the adverse effect wage rate, the prevailing wage rate, or the applicable minimum wage rate for time spent performing such clean-up work. Alternate work may be included.

Mow, cut, and weed fields. Perform ditching, shoveling, hoeing, hauling, group preparation, and other manual tasks. Bending, stooping and kneeling required. Use hand tools including but not limited to hoes, shovels,
shears, clippers, loppers, and saws. Use power equipment including but not limited to: tractors, planters, mowers, plows, sprayers, cultivators, power shears, chain saws, and skid loaders. Must operate agricultural equipment safely, with or without direction.

Requerimientos

This job requires a minimum of 3 months of agricultural experience harvesting tree fruit manually. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Workers must be able to perform manual and mechanized tasks with accuracy and efficiency. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry up to 80 lbs. Employer-paid post-hire drug testing required. Employer-paid post-hire background check required.