Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
were laid off.
28
These structural layoffs often lasted for weeks. Anotherex-
worker recalled that field hands could be fired at the discretion of their
supervisors: ''If they [the bosses] saw you slacking off a little, they'd say,
''don'tbothercomingtomorrow''andthenextdayyoudidnotgobecause
they would not give you work.''
29
In the absence of any legal recourse, dismissed workers were forced
to solicit work on another farm. Migrating between farms also provided
the means to escape conflict with bosses. For example, when a mandador
ignored Juan Gavilán's complaints about the di
culty of applying Bor-
deaux spray with a heavy hose, Juan and his spray partner protested with
their feet and headed to another farm. In another instance, after he was
fired for drinking on the job, Gavilán was able to find work on a differ-
ent farm.
30
At times, workers took advantage of the fruit companies' de-
centralized hiring systems by quitting jobs and/or changing farms as an
assertion of personal autonomy. As Cantalisio Andino explained, ''If you
were unhappy with your job, you could find something else through an-
other mandador orcaptain....Therewerenoidentificationnumbersor
anythinglikethat,soonewentfromfarmtofarmwithoutanyproblem.''
31
Although Cantalisio may have exaggerated the ease of finding a desirable
position on a new farm, his experiences, along with those of other former
campeños, confirm that field workers moved frequently. Over a span of
twenty years, Manuel Canales worked as a weeder (chapeador), pruner
(deshijero), harvester (juntero or cortero), and Bordeaux spray applicator
(venenero) for the Tela Railroad Company. He usually spent at least one
month (workers were paid monthly) at a given position at which point
if he wasn't satisfied he moved on to another farm. Upon re-locating,
Manuel sometimes had to fill temporary positions, but he added that,
''as time went on, and the foremen got to know you, they gave you regu-
lar work.''
32
Pastor Martínez also remembered the ease with which one could
change jobs: ''I was a harvester, apoyador (plant staker), hose-man,
nozzle-man [Bordeaux sprayer], and I worked in irrigation too—I've
worked in 99 percent of the jobs.'' He added that it was ''unusual'' to find
a person who had worked one job exclusively. The flexibility provided
Martínez with an escape from the tedium of manual labor: ''Suppose that
I worked six months hauling fruit. Then, the situation might change and
I'd decide that I no longer want to keep that job. So I went to work in
irrigation. Then something else—say, weeding. Later, when I got tired of
that, maybe I'd look for pruning work.''
33
José María Lara's work history reveals a similar pattern of transition
