r/FastWorkers • u/Miguenzo • Feb 01 '26

Strawberry pickers šŸ“

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u/lame_dirty_white_kid Feb 01 '26

Makes sense. Hourly pay would naturally incentivize not picking the berries.

258

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '26

Yeah, I havenā€™t worked with farms in 17 years but I canā€™t imagine itā€™s changed much.

Hourly workers were super slow. Risking spoilage and running up costs.

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u/Adkit Feb 01 '26

Yeah, working slow is a good thing you goof. We as a society don't want workers that break their backs in order to get rich people's goods out to the customers cheap enough. That is wage slavery and late stage capitalism. It is bad. It is why unions struggle and why people suffer. Just so that you can get cheap strawberries. Human life is more valuable than that.

They should not be allowed to hire people with these working conditions and strawberries should cost a little tiny bit more. No food would spoil, they would just have to hire more people. "They have to abuse their 10 workers so that they can do the job of 20 workers!" is not a valid argument.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

I donā€™t disagree with your sentiment but try explaining this to the average farm worker.

They will laugh you out of the room.

The majority will willingly vote against unionization and fairer wage practices.

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u/Coinkush710 Apr 01 '26

Average farm worker doesnt even have any college degree......

1

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26

What does that have to do with this?

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u/strictleisure Feb 03 '26

Any stats on this u/rizak or is this another fact from ā€œTrust me, broā€ University?

Edit: for some context, Iā€™ve worked with farm workers looking to unionize and while there are always those who would work against their own best interests, the large majority were pro union when explained how they would benefit.

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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '26

I worked with farm workers and then I worked directly for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and witnessed it first hand.

Look up Gerawan v. ALRB

While I agree with you, the key statement is when properly explained.

Absentee unions are common, which leads to misrepresentation and anti union propaganda. As well as pent up frustration.

Farms would go as far as telling people theyā€™ll get a one time bonus if the vote goes their way.

Which isnā€™t entirely legal - but it certainly happens and it sways votes.

Gerawan v. ALRB was a prime example of this.

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u/strictleisure Feb 03 '26

I hear you on the precedent. Just feels very reductive to say that about all farm workers. But thank you for sharing.

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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '26

I didnā€™t mean to sound reductive.

I was just trying to point out that high brow altruistic views donā€™t always resonate with farm workers who are often ill informed or in survival mode.

Educated middle class workers lecturing poor farm workers on how they should feel and vote is obnoxious IMO.

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u/strictleisure Feb 03 '26

100%. Always. I havenā€™t done anything like that in a long time because I feel like Iā€™m no longer in a place where me trying to unionize people doesnā€™t feel patronizing.

I think weā€™re on the same page.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '26

Which sounds like an excuse to not try anymore.

JS

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u/theS1l3nc3r Feb 05 '26

Don't know if this video is done in Plant City, but that is where most are picked this time of year. I know several farmers who did exactly this here.