End of the Line by Markham Starr

Author:Markham Starr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Published: 2013-06-27T16:00:00+00:00

Fish steaks leaving the buffer tanks and moving toward the packers.

Packers Cindy Wallace and Diane Robinson. Packing was paid as piecework, with the price dependent on the size of the fish. For the larger fish — three to a can — packers received $0.73 per case of 100 cans. For the smaller fish — about eight to a can — they were paid up to $1.30 per case. Fish steaks paid from $2.46 to $2.60 per case.

Packer Dawn Lamoureux.

Packing team Cindy Wallace and Diane Robinson at work. Each team devised its own packing technique. Sometimes the first packer would put two fish in the can, while the second packer would put in one, alternating with successive cans. In other teams, each packer would fill only every other can. After the automated line was installed, it took three or four years to settle on the right combinations of packers. The important thing was to work well together. When packers were arguing, they weren’t putting fish in cans — which meant they weren’t getting paid. (The raceway of cans in the foreground, out of this team’s reach, is headed to other workers farther down the line.)

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