r/,e t Emp 2. CHERRY INDUSTRY 5/2: C 35 _y • • • 11^ • • • DOOR COUNTY •f / J "- %i ^ •*.-=*. § Wisconsin Historical Library OCT 1 8 1961 government Publications Puhlislied by WISCONSIN CHERRY COMMISSION in cooperation with WISCONSIN STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE WISCONSIN STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE HARRY LIPPART, Director APPRECIATION We wish to express sincere appreciation to the Door County Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Agricultural Extension Division^ the Wisconsin Conservation Department, and the many cherry growers and processors who were helpful in the preparation of this brochure. Pictures were taken by personnel of the Wisconsin State Employment Service, or furnished by the above groups. June 1950 JUL 10 1961 UiJl EmpA- GENERAL INFORMATION C36^ This brochure is prepared by the Wisconsin Cherry Commission and the Wisconsin State Employ ment Service to present a picture and work description of some of the operations for which local and out-of-area labor is sought each year, and to give some idea of the conditions of work in the cherry industry. The pictures do not represent a continuous sequence of the complete cherry picking and proc essing operations. Most of the jobs illustrated are of an unskilled nature where little training is required. Workers may be placed at any of the jobs illustrated, depending on the needs of the particular employer. The cherry industry in Wisconsin is concentrated on the Door County peninsula, and the northern ten miles of Kewaunee County. In recent years, the production of tart red cherries from the 1,000,000 tree plantings in the area has varied between 20,000,000 and 50,000,000 pounds per season, to place the Door County area third in U. S. production of this type cherry. These are grown by about 600 growers. A further increase of 10 percent in bearing trees is anticipated over the next five years. It is impos sible to predict what production will be from year to year, since yields are strongly affected by such factors as winter injuries, spring frosts and unfavorable weather during blossom time. On the average cherries are picked and processed somewhere between the dates of July 10 and August 20 each year, with the length of the picking season depending on the crop condition and yield. There are nine processing plants in the area of which three hot and cold pack cherries, one proc esses maraschino cherries and one processes cherry juice. About 95 percent of the cherries are proc essed by producers themselves through their own plants or through cooperatives. During the 1948 and 1949 season approximately 10,000 seasonal workers were employed at picking and processing cherries. There has been an increasing trend toward hiring of migrant family groups who provide their own cooking equipment and require only shelter and a stove. All types of workers, including single girls and boys, men and women and family groups, however, will continue to be needed each year. The general age range for cherry pickers is from 8 to 60 years of age with whole families fre quently picking together. For in-plant work, however, a general age range of 18 to 60 applies, with some workers hired at 16 and 17 years of age. Persons under 18 who wish to work in-plant must show proof of birth and physical condition, and have consent of parents to obtain a Wisconsin labor permit. Wages for picking are paid on a per pail basis. The price per pail is established each season by the growers of Door County through the Door County Wage Committee. Wages for in-plant work are usually on an hourly basis. A variety of housing is available including large camp buildings with double bunks for boys or girls; small cabins for girls and women, boys and men, and some family groups; and barracks and tents with wooden floors for migrant family groups. In general, workers must furnish their own toilet articles and all bedding except the mattress. In large camps housing for girls is in a separate section of the camp and is patrolled by night watchmen. ORCHARD VIEW RECRUITING WORKERS to the location of orchards needing help and for specific referral instructions. There is no fee charged for obtaining jobs. When cherry pick ing is completed in one orchard, workers con tact the Employment Service for referral to other orchards still in need of help. When all cherries have been picked and processed, work ers are referred from Door County to other areas. In 1949 there were approximately 110 worker camps open in Door County ranging from those accommodating ten persons, to the camps of large processors which housed several hundred. The WSES oflJice placed a total of 4,000 workers during the season and referred and routed several thousand persons to other areas at the close of cherry operations. The Wisconsin State Employment Service in A total of 29 states was represented by migrant workers coming into and leaving the 1949 established a seasonal branch office in county, ranging from California and Washing Sturgeon Bay which opens shortly before ton in the West, to Texas in the South and cherry picking and processing begins and Massachusetts in the East. Among the nearly operates a week or two beyond the close of the 10,000 workers in 1949 were 3,500 Texas- season each year. Mexicans, about 2,500 white pickers, mostly from Wisconsin, several hundred American The office provides a central clearing house Indians, and some Southern Negroes. for local and migrant workers in obtaining employment throughout the cherry growing area and for the recruiting and direction of migrant workers to other agricultural and food processing jobs in Wisconsin and other states after the cherry season is completed. The office depends on the voluntary coopera tion of cherry growers and processors who are encouraged to place orders for pickers and other labor. In turn, the WSES office clears these orders throughout Wisconsin, neighbor ing states, and to other supply areas in and outside the U. S., depending on the labor needs in any particular year and the general supply of labor available. Workers entering the Door County area for the cherry season are encouraged to stop at the Employment Service office for information as ORCHARD OPERATIONS Texas-Mexican Family Group The planting, cultivating, pruning and spraying of the orchard trees is usually done by the families who own the orchards or by regular year-round workers in the case of larger orchards. The picking of cherries, however, requires a large number of seasonal unskilled persons, including men, women, girls and boys, for a period from three to six weeks, depending on the condition of the crop. Workers are transported to and from the picking areas daily by orchard trucks or by trucks belonging to migrant workers as illustrated on next page. Pickers are usually under the supervision of either the orchard owner, or a crew leader who shows pickers how to pick most etRciently. In the case of nationality groups, a member of the group may be designated to direct the picking. The pick ers are assigned to trees in an orderly fashion to facilitate clean picking of all trees in the rows being worked on. The typical worker (illustrated) stands on a 7, 8 or 9 foot step ladder and reaches out into the tree with both hands, palms upward, and strips or pulls the cherries from the stems and drops them into a 4-quart metal pail which is hung from the picker's shoulder by a leather or canvas strap. The lower cherries on the trees are picked by standing on the ground and reaching up to about head height. Extreme care must be exercised to pick the cherries clean, including the pit, without removing leaves, stems or spurs, which would result in additional labor at the factory and would injure the fruit-bearing capacity of the trees in subsequent years. The trees must be stripped of all cherries before the worker moves on to the next tree. Filled pails of cherries are set in the shade under the tree until several pails have accumulated for checking in. ORCHARD OPERATIONS The average picker, working fairly steadily, picks from 20 to 30 pails of cherries per day. Fast workers average 40 to 50 pails a day with the top pickers going as high as 70 pails. The speed with which cherries can be picked is partly determined by the condition of the crop and the ripeness of the cherries. Unripe cherries are more difficult to pick. Pickers perform their work out in the open under excellent weather conditions in a temperature averag ing 75°. Picking usually is curtailed during moderate or heavy rains. Work usually begins at 7:00 A.M. and continues to 4:30 or 5:00 P.M., with little work per formed on Sundays, In some orchards workers can pick up to 10 or 12 hours a day if desired. Younger Girls Migrant Transportation Picking work requires the ability to climb, stand and maintain a proper balance on the ladders for long periods of time. Workers must have free use of the hands and arms to reach out and strip cherries rapidly and must be able to shift and carry ladders weighing about 40 pounds from one tree to another. When t checking in cherries, pickers usually are required to carry two pails of cherries weighing about 10 pounds each to the nearby checking station. £lderly Family ORCHARD OPERATIONS then directed to dump the pails of cherries into wooden boxes for delivery to the processing plant. Checking work is performed outdoors, sometimes under a canopy to protect picked cherries from the sun. Temperatures average 75°. Work usually begins when picking begins at 7:00 A.M. and continues to 4:30 or 5:00 P.M. with little work on Sundays. No heavy lift ing is involved. Some mental and clerical ability is necessary to keep record cards straight and to answer questions asked by pickers. Considerable standing is involved. Checking-in stations are located at convenient spots in the orchards where considerable picking activity is going on. When several pails are filled, pickers carry the filled pails to the station. Checking work is usually performed by girls under the supervision of the orchard boss. The typical checker (illustrated) receives the filled pails of cherries, looks them over to be sure they are full and uses a hand punch to punch the correct num ber of pails picked on a company record card and on a duplicate card which the worker carries with him. These cards are then used to determine the amount of money earned by each picker each day. The picker is ORCHARD OPERATIONS Loading of filled boxes of cherries onto trucks is performed at the checking-in stations. Truck and trac tor drivers make regular stops to pick up the filled boxes and return empties. The typical worker (illustrated) drives a light stake truck or a tractor which hauls a flat truck behind it. Duties at the checking-in station include unloading empties and stacking them on the ground in orderly fashion, and loading fifled boxes of cherries onto the truck, often with the assistance of a helper. After a truck is filled, the driver delivers the cherries to the processing plant receiving station where he helps un load the boxes. Work is performed under a variety of weather con ditions including driving through muddy orchard lanes at times. When tractors are used, drivers are out in the open. Work usually begins at 6:30 to 7:00 A.M. and continues until all cherries are brought in, usually by 5:30 P.M. Fairly heavy physical labor is involved in lifting and moving full boxes of cherries which weigh 30 to 40 pounds. Noon lunch is served to pickers out in the orchard, usually near the checking-in station. Trucks deliver the rations to the orchard and usually girls from the cafeteria or company kitchen accompany the truck driver and pass out meals cafeteria style with orchard workers getting in line for service. The lunch hour usually lasts from one-half to one hour. 10 PLANT OPERATIONS The washing department consists of a series of large tanks in which cherries are agitated and washed clean. The cherries are piped in water from the receiving tanks to washing tanks by hydraulic pumps. The operations of the washing department are staffed entirely with men, usually old hands who know how to handle the large flow of cherries. The typical worker (illustrated) turns vari ous valves to allow cherries to flow into and out of the tanks and to fill the tanks with additional water. A long rake is then used to stir up the cherries to promote uniform washing. Judg ment must be used in timing the various wash ing tanks so that a uniform flow of cherries is available to the picking-over line. The washer men must also keep pipes from clogging and clean the tanks after each batch has gone through. The receiving station of a cherry processing The washing work is usually performed on plant handles the unloading of wooden boxes of the first floor inside the plant under fairly wet cherries from trucks which come from the conditions. Cement and wood floors are usually orchards and the dumping of cherries into very wet and workers wear rubber boots. The receiving tanks. Work in this department is for work involves a large amount of walking be men only. tween tanks. During heavy runs of cherries work continues from 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 A.M., The typical worker (illustrated) unloads or 16 to 18 hours per day. wooden boxes of cherries and dumps them into the receiving tanks and returns the empty boxes to the delivery trucks. In general, simple records are kept of the number of boxes of cherries received and the truck delivering them in order to identify shipments from various growers. Receiving work is usually performed under a canopy which protects from the rain, but allows outdoor air to circulate. Temperatures follow outdoor readings. Work begins about 8:00 A.M. when cherries arrive from the orchards, and continues until all picked cherries are processed. When cherries are coming in heavy, receiving activity may go on until 3:00 A.M., or 16 to 18 hours a day. Fairly heavy physical labor is involved in lifting and carrying full boxes of cherries weighing about 40 pounds. Work is generally done under fairly dry conditions.