Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
stalk so that the weight of the fruit bunch (between 40 and 80 pounds)
would cause the plant to double over until the bananas came to rest on
the padded shoulder of a waiting juntero. The padding notwithstanding,
heavybunchesoftenbrokewhentheymadecontactwithajuntero'sshoul-
dersuggestingthatworkers'backsabsorbedconsiderablepoundinginthe
course of harvesting hundreds of bunches. The juntero then carried the
fruit to another worker who loaded it onto the backs of mules that would
subsequently carry the fruit to a bacadía, or railroad siding.
68
Prior to the introduction of tractors in the mid-1950s, mules played
a critical role in transporting fruit. The Tela Railroad Company main-
tained more than 6,300 pack mules that required ''extensive pastures'' and
imported feed. Mule drivers did not take their animals for granted; un-
cooperative mules could throw off or even eat their cargo. New mules
often gave workers fits and were broken in by placing heavy sandbags on
their backs.
69
On harvest days, muleros headed to the corral in the early
hours of the morning to find their teams using only the light of a lantern
or flashlight. The mule driver who arrived late to the corral ran the risk
that a fellow worker would ''swap'' a rebellious mule for a reliable one. In
order to avoid bruising during the ride, canvas padding was layered be-
tween the mule and the fruit. However, as one ex-Standard Fruit worker
noted, the combination of heavy rains and unpaved roads all but ensured
that the fruit would be bumped and jostled during its ride to the baca-
día:''Everything was mud.The fruit suffered as much as theworker. It got
rather battered.''
70
According to Bricio Fajardo, mule drivers commonly
hauled 200-300 bunches during a day that extended for twelve or more
hours: ''We got up at two in the morning to prepare the mules and per-
haps at six or seven at night we'd return them to the corral...itwaster-
rible, wewould be plastered with mud.''
71
Slogging through rain and mud
''up to one's knees'' was a memory shared by many former Tela Railroad
Company workers as well.
72
Not surprisingly, harvesting crews tried to devise ways to increase
their earnings under the piece-wage system. Some contractors elimi-
nated the juntero position. Feliciano Núñez recalled that his six-person
crew, ''working like crazy,'' could harvest and transport more than 1,000
bunches in an eighteen-hour period. In order to ensure that workers did
not sacrifice quality for quantity, foremen closely supervised harvesting
crews, taking them to task for improperly padding the fruit and/or over-
loading the mules. Of course, the same set of environmental factors that
could make life miserable for harvesters must have rendered close super-
vision dicult and unpleasant.
73
Bananas had to be cut and transported
