Four years ago I could really earn more money by the piece. The next year they reduced the rates. That is why piece rate is no good. A crew worker was frustrated with agricultural employers who don't specify, up front, what the piece rate is. These employers are thinking in terms of what they want to pay the average employee on an hourly basis.
Workers soon realize that increased performance translates into lower rates per piece.
Another crew worker explained that being sent back to redo a job takes on more serious consequences when the worker is being paid by the piece. Workers felt that supervisors needed to appraise their task performance in a timely fashion. Liked pace of hourly pay. Many of the crew workers who preferred hourly pay liked the calmer, easier pace of hourly work. One woman felt that piece-rate pay was more a man's work, but was quick to add that women who wanted to do piece work should be permitted to do so.