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The Dairy Worker's Image
There’s a lot that can be done to
improve the mental picture of
dairy work and it could
provide dividends to dairy
operators in their search for good
workers.
Needed: better labor
management on dairy farms.
That’s one of the indications
from interviews with nearly 200
dairy farm workers and
operators in New York State, the
Nation’s third largest milk
producer.
The interviews were part of a
USDA study into job images in
dairy farming-a study brought
about by farmers’ complaints
that they are having increasing
trouble finding good dairy
workers.
“We’re on the threshold of an
era when we have to pay at-'
tention to the fact that farmers
are having to compete with in
dustry for workers,” comments
the rural sociologist who headed
up the study.
“In the Northeast, the reser
voir of farm-raised people is
declining. Manufacturing is
dispersed so that everyone is able,
to commute to a non-farm job.
When it comes to attracting
and keeping employees, dairy
work had two big assets that the
employees didn’t believe they’d
find in comparable nonfarm
work: a sense of involvement in
their jobs and a feeling that their
work was interesting. In fact, 85
percent said they’d pick the same
career all-over again.
Lancaster farming, Saturday, September 15,1973—1?
On the other hand, both em
ployers and employees on dairy
farms agreed cash pay was
lower, hours longer, and
vacations shorter than for
comparable nonfarm jobs. The
“comparable jobs” they cited
included mechanic, construction
worke?; and truck driver.
Answers differ. But while
employers felt shorter hours,
higher pay, and more fringe
benefits were the best workers,
employees concentrated on items
that involved better labor
management, an answer that
employers put forth on their list.
Very few of the workers in
terviewed had any specific un
derstanding with their employers
on the way the’d get paid, on pay
raises, on what work they were to
do, on fringe benefits, sick leave,
incentive plans, and bonuses.
Operators tended not to like to
supervise employees ... and
tended not to pay much attention
to it, which led to misun
derstandings and conflicts
among employees and between
the employee and employer.
Although agriculture is
generally characterized by a lack
of formal structure in the work
force, perhaps nowhere is this
more evident than in this study of
medium and large dairy farms in
New York State. -a
There were no written con
tractual agreements between
employers and employees, and
oral agreements were extremely
varied in content. Job titles and
job content were not standarized.
Part of the problem. This lack
of structure was responsible for a
number of the problems plaguing
dairy employers, the study
reported.
For instance, while most of the
operators interviewed had fewer
than three employees, and
consequently should have little
personnel turmoil, more than
half said they’d had such
problems as jealousy among
workers over assignments or pay
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differentials, attempts of one to
boss another, personality con
flicts, and conflicts among wives
and families of workers.
Dairy farm operators said they
felt less equipped to handle these
problems than any of the others
they faced as farm operators or
as members of their com
munities.
Another finding was that
farmers tended to regard
workers as part of the family or
as neighbors and to look after
them, helping them in
emergencies-an attitude that
modern worke r s tended to resent,
considering it paternalistic.
So where does a farmer turn for
guidance on better management
practices?
The study conceded that most
successful models for labor
organization and management
are really set up for large
companies.
Farms slighted. “The in
vestigation of small firms in
commerce and industry or farms
with small numbers of hired
workers in agriculture has been
slighted,” the sociologist com
mented in the study.
However, a similar study of
California dairy farms shows
that greater reliance on stan
dards and organization have
shown some signs of success
there.
A typical California dairy farm
rarely involves any more
workers than those in New York,
but in Southern California,
written contracts between em
ployers and employee unions are
the rule.
Spell it out. These contracts
specify wage rates based on a
complex formula allowing for
variations in number of cows
milked, type of barn, or milking
equipment. Job titles are
specific, and some of the
responsibility of labor supply
management is assumed by the
unions.
(Continued On Page 18)