I see some pretty ridiculous posts here somedays. So, I was wondering for all those people who can't find a job, why not work on farms picking fruit/vegetables? I know what people say about the migrant workers taking OUR jobs. How we should seal the boarders. Ship them all home. How many people would take on their jobs - the jobs no one else wants.... NOTE - home is equivalent to a trailer that is often shared with several (10-12) other UNRELATED people. There are no health benefits, no unions, and minimum wage? LOL yeah, right.
A sample workday for a Florida tomato picker
- 4:30 AM: Wake up. Prepare lunch in your trailer.
- 5:00 AM: Walk to the parking lot or pick-up site to begin looking for work.
- 6:30 AM: With luck, a contractor will choose you to work for him for the day. The job may be 10 miles to 100 miles away. Board the contractor’s old bus to go to the fields.
- 7:30 AM: Arrive at fields and begin weeding or waiting while the dew evaporates from the tomatoes. You are usually not paid for this time.
- 9:00 AM: Begin picking tomatoes - filling buckets, hoisting them on your shoulder, running them 100 feet or more to the truck and throwing the bucket up into the truck- all for a token worth 40-50 cents. Work fast because you must pick 2 TONS of tomatoes in order to earn $50 today. This may or may not be possible depending on the time of year and quantity of tomatoes on the plants.
- 12:00: Eat lunch as fast as you can, often with your hands soaked in pesticides. Return to working under the smoldering Florida sun.
- 5:00 PM (sometimes much later, depending on the season) : Board bus to return to Immokalee.
- Between 5:30 and 8:00 PM: Arrive in Immokalee and walk home.
