Workers who were paid piecework...
Illustration
Workers who were paid piecework harvested the crops grown on our family's fruit farm. Their salary was determined, not by the number of hours they worked, but by the amount of fruit they picked during those hours. Most of our workers understood this. However a few workers did not.
Jim and his friends were the first workers I picked up at the Farm Labor Pool early one Friday morning. I told them how much they would be paid for picking an 11-quart basket of cherries. Jim answered for himself and his four friends. "That's all right with us. We'll have as much money as we need for Saturday's concert by noon."
However by mid-morning it appeared that Jim and his friends were not able to pick cherries as fast as they said they could. My father sent me back into the city to hire more workers. This time a whole family was waiting to be hired. I told them what they would be making per basket and they too agreed to work for the set price. When I brought them back to the cherry orchard, my father showed them the trees that they should pick. As I turned to resume my own picking I heard Jim warn the newcomers to stay away from the trees that he wanted to pick. Since I knew my father would take care of the matter, I said nothing.
When noon arrived, it was apparent that we would need even more workers to get the work done. I again drove back into the city to hire more workers. This time there was only one man waiting. His name was Bill. When we arrived back at the farm, my father assigned Bill his trees. As soon as my father was out of hearing, Jim warned Bill to stay away from the trees he wanted to pick.
Unfortunately it began to rain an hour after Bill arrived. The only thing we could do was pay the workers and pray that there would be some workers willing to work on Saturday. Bill was paid first. When Jim demanded to know how much he had made, Bill told him. "I bet my friends and I each made four times as much," Jim bragged. "We were here four hours earlier than you."
Jim begged to be paid next. He couldn't wait to see how much more he and his friends had made. When they were paid they realized that it had taken each of them five hours to make the money Bill made in only one hour. Jim was outraged. He immediately blamed my father for giving Bill the best trees to pick.
My father looked at Jim and asked, "Didn't you and your friends agree to work for the same amount of money per basket as Bill?"
Jim admitted that he had, but continued to complain about the trees he had been assigned to pick.
My father cut him off by saying, "You and your friends had the right to choose how fast you were going to work. It was my right to assign the trees to be picked in the order that I chose."
Jim and his friends were the first workers I picked up at the Farm Labor Pool early one Friday morning. I told them how much they would be paid for picking an 11-quart basket of cherries. Jim answered for himself and his four friends. "That's all right with us. We'll have as much money as we need for Saturday's concert by noon."
However by mid-morning it appeared that Jim and his friends were not able to pick cherries as fast as they said they could. My father sent me back into the city to hire more workers. This time a whole family was waiting to be hired. I told them what they would be making per basket and they too agreed to work for the set price. When I brought them back to the cherry orchard, my father showed them the trees that they should pick. As I turned to resume my own picking I heard Jim warn the newcomers to stay away from the trees that he wanted to pick. Since I knew my father would take care of the matter, I said nothing.
When noon arrived, it was apparent that we would need even more workers to get the work done. I again drove back into the city to hire more workers. This time there was only one man waiting. His name was Bill. When we arrived back at the farm, my father assigned Bill his trees. As soon as my father was out of hearing, Jim warned Bill to stay away from the trees he wanted to pick.
Unfortunately it began to rain an hour after Bill arrived. The only thing we could do was pay the workers and pray that there would be some workers willing to work on Saturday. Bill was paid first. When Jim demanded to know how much he had made, Bill told him. "I bet my friends and I each made four times as much," Jim bragged. "We were here four hours earlier than you."
Jim begged to be paid next. He couldn't wait to see how much more he and his friends had made. When they were paid they realized that it had taken each of them five hours to make the money Bill made in only one hour. Jim was outraged. He immediately blamed my father for giving Bill the best trees to pick.
My father looked at Jim and asked, "Didn't you and your friends agree to work for the same amount of money per basket as Bill?"
Jim admitted that he had, but continued to complain about the trees he had been assigned to pick.
My father cut him off by saying, "You and your friends had the right to choose how fast you were going to work. It was my right to assign the trees to be picked in the order that I chose."
