Milford chronicle., 1952-06-20
Ample Supply OF Farm
Labor Is FOreseen
By Bert Stetser
CONTINUED from arst page)

tomatoes, apples, peaches, sweet
corn, peppers, and cucumbers. Be
cause of the overlapping of some
of these crops and the fact that
one crew may work on several
crops during the same period, the
exact number on each crop cannot
be determined.
Under the eastern seaboard pro-
gram, Delaware's representative
visited II local employment offices
in Florida from April Z to "a, and
interviewed 435 crew leaders with
a potential of 5000 workers who
were interested in Delaware en-
ployment. Upon his return employ
ers who had previously indicated
a need for workers were given
necessary information and together
with the commissions local office
farm placement interviewers work
ed out commitments for the cur
rent season. Crew leaders were no
titled by letter and asked to con-
firm the arrangements.
Data Forwarded
After the season starts and the
crew moves north each local office
representative forwards to the next
state office a chart showing the
crews arrival at his area and the
prospective date of departure of
the crew for the next state. In this
manner the progress of the crew
is reported up to date and in adj
vance to succeeding state offices.
Besides this, letters are written
between employers and crew lead
ers and farm placement representa-
tiVes and crew leaders.
One of the best. services is that
of the Information Station at Little
Creek, Va, operated by the United
States Employment Service, which
charts each crew before crossing
on the Cape Charles ferry, listing
the number in the crew actually
going aboard and the destinations
from that point on. This chart is
mailed to each office shown as a
destination.
Housing Important
Workers, upon arrival, are quart
cred in either housing owned by the
employer, or in an established camp
owned and operated by an 'assOcia-
ton of growers. Lack of facilities
for housing labor may deter farm
ers from growing crops that would
bring good market prices but re-
quire harvesting by hand.
Besides crews that come in tG
the state by pre-arranged commit
ments as shown there are crew
known as free wheelers". These
as the name implies. are crews tina
travel around looking for chanc,
job. Many of these stop in to th
local employment service office AM
are placed by the farm placemen
interviewer. AS a result they lear
the advantage of utilizing the serv
; ice and eventually become a par
of the established migratory pat
tern. Few of these crews are i
= evidence today.
Family groups" also cOnstitut
( quite a few of the migratory work
ers. These are families that load u
2 car or small truck and usual
= come back to the same employer
year after year. Sometimes when
D harvest is shortened by adverse cir
| cumstances and they are not read
. to return south they go to the locs
/, office seeking further work for tn
p season.
= Wages, Hours Private Matter
f Wages and hours are a privai
: arrangement between the employt
5; and worker. There is no establishe
/ rate of pay, but an unofficial pr,
b vailing rate in each area influence
4 the determination of wages to
}, paid. The employment services do'
b not enter into any arrangements il
= volving the matter.
II AS the season progresses the
l. ere times when there is a temp
e rary labor shortage in one crop
If result of production over antiC
d patton, or departure of some wOr
le ers due to disagreements, or 9th
reasons. In these cases other are
-e are contacted by phone to dete
le mine if they have a surplus of lab
E, or could "loan" some workers for
p short period to carry over the diff
Id Guilty. The cooperation received
s. these instances has prevented 10
re Of crops due to labor shortages.
ip Puerto Rican labor supplement
il the regular migratory labor p;
as tern. This labor is obtained bo
ty from the island continental sOurc
a This year there are quite a numb
lie drifting" into the states and fin
of ing employment on their own.