Task work.- Under this system, an amount of work is assigned, also. The
 laborers are expected to finish their task before quitting work for the evening.
 However, they are cleared by their supervisor to quit for the day when the task
 is accomplished. Under this system, there is no incentive to earn more money,
 but rather to finish early to pursue other interests. Experience, again, is
 necessary to assure that the "task" is sufficient to keep laborers working
 most, but not all the working day. This system allows for idle periods when
 rain is falling, since after a shower, a laborer can continue his task until
 finished.

 Day labor.- This is the most inefficient form of labor, draws the poorest
 of workers and requires the utmost of supervision. This is the most "social"
 of the groups of sugarcane harvesters. A typical group lines itself across a
 field, a man every two rows, guaging its speed of movement to the slowest
 workers, who exert a drag on the progress through the field. Such a field is
 replete (in fact the origin of) with folk singing, tale telling, and reminis-
 cing of former days and youthful exploits. Such workers accept the status quo
 that they helped to establish, release their strength in amounts so that it will
 endure until (or more likely after) the quitting bell rings, are subject to
 frequent absenteeism, and cannot be planned upon except on a day-to-day basis.
 Some day laborers can be made more efficient by putting them on piece work or
 task work, provided they have the initiative and mentality necessary, along
 with the ability to generate interest in doing a good job. Another method of
 increasing the efficiency of day laborers is to have them work abreast of a
 machine that works at a given rate. For instance, scrappers must keep up with
 loading operations to prevent being left behind. Any period of idleness during
 loading necessitates the worker carrying armfuls of cane extra distances to the
 loader, wagons, or the next heap row.

 Child labor.- The conditional payment made by the government to growers
 has three objectives, the third of which is "to prevent the employment of child
 labor in field work". Children under 14 must not be employed. Children be-
 tween 14 and 16 must not be employed or permitted to work more than 8 hours
 per day. Growers who own 40 percent or more of the crop they are cultivating
 are exempted with respect to their own children. Penalty (subtractions from
 conditional payment) for failure to observe child labor provisions is $10 per
 child per day (or part day) during which a child was employed or permitted to
 work.














Nimeo 63-9
400 copies