Some of the older North Carolina 

 workers have been slowed by arthritis, 

 but they continue to pick to supplement 

 Social Security. 



Frances Davis started receiving So- 

 cial Security in 1991. But as long as she 

 has her health, she won't stop picking 

 crabs at Thomas Seafood in North River. 



"People tell me, 'Now you've got 

 Social Security. You've been working all 

 your life.' But I tell them, 'As long as I'm 

 able to, I'm going to work,'" she says. 

 "Social Security ain't stopping me. I am 

 used to working all my life." 



Younger local workers who have 

 stayed at the plants say they like the flex- 

 ibility of working at the crab house. 

 Mothers time their work hours around 

 their children's school schedules. 



Also, workers are able to work the 

 days they want — taking off days, weeks 

 or seasons to meet family demands. 



The pickers who have stayed on say 

 they like working close to home, and in 

 fact, most are working with family. They 

 look around the room and point out cous- 

 ins, sisters, in-laws and neighbors. 



If these workers are happy, why has 

 the local labor force shrunk? 



Younger women often look for jobs 

 in the growing tourism industry, which 

 offers similar or better wages without the 

 lingering scent of the crab house. 



Some owners of the crab processing 

 plants claim workers are not taking sea- 

 sonal picking jobs, choosing to work only 

 a few days a week because full-time in- 

 come would jeopardize welfare benefits. 



For whatever reason, North Carolina 

 crab processors found themselves in 

 desperate need of workers. Like the farm- 

 ers of the state, they turned to migrant 

 workers. 



The Mexican women are eager to 

 work. Some heard recruiters advertising 

 on the radio for jobs here. Others were 

 brought to North Carolina by church 

 groups. 



But much like the local workers, 

 most Mexican women are referred 

 through a loose network of family and 

 friends who already have picking jobs. 



The Mexican workers range in age 

 from teens to 50s, but most are between 

 20 and 35. They leave behind families 

 and, in some cases, very young children 

 for the six-month season. 



Gloria's husband got help from her 

 sister to keep up with seven boys ages 4 to 

 17. Her job here has provided the growing 

 boys with basics of food and clothes, as 

 well as luxuries such as a new television 

 and stereo. 



Some Mexican pickers are single 

 mothers. Most have very little formal 

 education. All say there are no job options 

 in their towns. 



Plenty of the workers from coastal 

 areas of Tabasco had never taken the bus 

 to the state capital, Villahermosa, before 

 they decided to take jobs in North Caro- 

 lina. It is not the adventure but the money 

 that draws them. 



In one season in North Carolina, a 

 good picker can gross nearly $6,000. Even 

 after taxes, housing, food and transporta- 

 tion to and from North Carolina, the 

 Mexican workers take home several thou- 

 sand dollars each year — much more than 

 they could earn at home. Without family 

 demands, they are eager to work overtime 

 and Saturdays to boost paychecks. Some 

 send money orders home with every pay- 

 check to cover the family's living ex- 

 penses. Others bank the money during the 

 season and make big purchases before 

 leaving. 



Lucina has added rooms to her mod- 

 est cement home, which is off a sandy 

 road to Playa Bruja (Witch's Beach) on 

 the Gulf of Mexico. More important to 

 her, she has sent one son to college, and 

 another starts this year. 



6 JULY/AUGUST 1994 



