All those lazy Australians who do not want the fruit picking jobs

[*kazumi*]

People being lured on promise of $3800 per week and then forced to sign that they understand they may earn less than minimum wage. 

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/11/15/farm-work-australia-wages/

[davewil1964]

I don't want a fruit picking job.

I'm not lazy. I have no back and non-functional knees. Which I naturally blame the Government for - they were the ones who said I should exercise.

[not_for_sale2024]

When I was a young teenager, a Gold Coast potato grower offered me and some mates a days work picking potatoes on his property. He collected us the next morning and drove us to his farm. I worked hard all day only to be paid $8. While I was exhausted, dehydrated, barely able to stand up and with my head pounding, the bloke told us to find our own way back to Brisbane. We had to thumb our way home separately. He was a con, a liar and had contempt for urban people.

I wouldn't recommend that type of work to anyone unless they are strong, fit, experienced and demanding of a signed contract.

[*kazumi*]

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@not_for_sale2024 wrote:

When I was a young teenager, a Gold Coast potato grower offered me and some mates a days work picking potatoes on his property. He collected us the next morning and drove us to his farm. I worked hard all day only to be paid $8. While I was exhausted, dehydrated, barely able to stand up and with my head pounding, the bloke told us to find our own way back to Brisbane. We had to thumb our way home separately. He was a con, a liar and had contempt for urban people.

I wouldn't recommend that type of work to anyone unless they are strong, fit, experienced and demanding of a signed contract.

---

HAHA, we had a very similar experience picking tomatoes.  The farmer dropped us of in his field, miles away from nowhere, together with old swagman.  There was a tiny shack with just one bed frame (no mattress, just the springs) for the 3 of us to sleep, and when we asked where we can wash, he pointed to muddy irrigation channel.  By the lunch we picked about 50c worth of tomatoes, I got rash on my arms, and my friend was sunburned.  So we did not even wait to get paid and left.

The article I posted said that the reason farmers do not want locals because they cannot exploit them.

[lionrose.7]

I picked Grapes once in west Auckland, had to work in the rain

Thought I was going to get a good wage, worst money ever, when I questioned it they told me, different rates for different grapes and I had the easy ones.

One lady throw her wage packet back on their face and told them it was slave labor.

I had Purple hand for ages had to put lemon juice on them LOL

[countessalmirena]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

I don't want a fruit picking job.

I'm not lazy. I have no back and non-functional knees. Which I naturally blame the Government for - they were the ones who said I should exercise.

---

    No cherries for you, then?

[myoclon1cjerk]

$3800 per week. That's possible if you work around 140-150 hours per week.
Here's how it generally works. Bumper crop where you can earn a good hourly rate, so the farmer puts you on the much lower award rate. Lousy crop and you'll often find you're on piece work which means wages well below the award rate. If there's an abundance of workers, some farmers have been known to sack people after a couple of days so they don't have to pay the mandatory super contribution if a worker earns $450+ per month.

[davewil1964]

Not hand-picked.

That what Woolies is for.

[*tippy*toes*]

In 2004 we both did cherry grading at one of the local orchards. We were getting $25/hr tax free. That was good money 16 years ago. The good pickers were averaging $500+ a week, tax free.

The conditions were good and the orchard people were lovely. Some days were 12 hour days, others only 6. A 1 hour lunch break and 2x 20 minute coffee breaks. Often the pickers didn't take the full hour, they wanted to pick more to make more.

Not all farmers are **bleep**holes. 

[myoclon1cjerk]

That's true. Not all farmers are bleepholes. May I ask how many farms/farmers you've dealt with and over what period ? Me, personally, it's well over a hundred over 46 years.