Those of us who were ‘cannon fodder’- how do you feel?

[Onandoff]

I went to a gathering the other day with people who were privileged enough to still be working from home in highly paid city jobs. Their experiences were a stark contrast with mine. It was interesting to hear how protected they’d been, many still getting shopping delivered and only just resuming socialising. They hadn’t been on public transport at all. There was a general air of resentment at being asked to go back to offices and commute. They’d all saved money and were very worried about covid exposure despite being vaccinated. Apparently many workers have completely refused to return.

DH and I were the only key workers there and it brought home how exposed we’d been. Literally all of our family and colleagues caught it and some died or were left disabled. My mum died. In the hospital where I work 80% caught it in the first wave alone.

It’s been interesting to see through this that the jobs essential to society are (generally, appreciate some exceptions like medics) the worst paid. If we’d refused to go in or been redeployed we’d have been sacked. While the privileged middle class are still being pandered to despite vaccination.

I feel that those who went out to work should be financially compensated for the risk we took. At the very least we should be given tax breaks and not be expected to cough up for furlough costs.

Amazing 🤣 if you’ve heard it from people who work with them it must be true! Which is why I’m sure you’ll agree that we should all believe everything we hear about teachers too.

So you're saying that it's not true that civil servants are mithering about a return to work when we've also seen ministers publicly threaten them with pay cuts if they refuse to do so?

Ok.

@WibbleyPie you’ve directly quoted me
I was responding to the well it’s your job and yiu knew the risks previous post
It’s not a who has had it worst competition. I don’t dispute that HCA or retail. Or transportation workers had a hard time. It’s been ghastly

I feel tired, mainly!

I do get the nark occasionally about the complete difference in pandemic experiences between "us" and "them" but it's just life I suppose.

I'm mostly pissed off with my bosses, who have raked in literal millions whilst extending our hours, increasing our workload and not replacing leavers. We've had one staff meeting about Covid since the start of the pandemic, and that was 3 months into the pandemic.

FWIW my mother is a key worker (allied health professional) and the only WFH she’s pissed at is the NHS/civil service admin/management 😂
I’m with you though OP . It’s not about who had the toughest time (whether WFH or at home) - but it’s galling to hear people moaning about being asked to actually do their jobs.
Where my mum works for example WFH has been an absolute pisstake. Phones not answered, emails ignored, processes delayed ‘because Covid’. While these people have in fact had a reduced workload throughout the pandemic thanks to all the patients the department wasn’t seeing.

Everyone thinks that they’re ‘more productive’ when WFH .. that’s not always true

Lovely to see the remnants of the hell that is Thatcherism alive and well on this thread

Turn all the people who work against each other rather than focus on the 1-2% who've literally made millions/billions in the case of Amazon's Bezos

I think your resentment at people who were at home is misplaced and detracting from your wider argument about you being acknowledged for your financially.

It’s a tricky one though as who would be chosen to get this financial incentive? And how much?

Are you talking compensation based on how impacted you have been? Or an increase in pay?

(Don’t know anyone who wouldn’t support an increase in pay to some key workers)

In Scotland health and social care workers were given £500 extra pay one month from the government - is this enough?

How do you pick who is worthy?

It’s so hard. Some people at home suffered greatly. My mum was one of those - she has now passed away and the last year of her life was significantly impacted by the virus. But not because she was a front like worker.

You can’t stop people from whinging. Some of the people you describe probably worked long hours before and had a commute and saw a bit of an easier way of life - where they could do their work but not in such a pressured environment, with a long commute. Who can blame them for not wanting to go back to that?

Them whining doesn’t take away from your hard work, or your sacrifices.

A tax break would be nice but I can’t see it happening unfortunately.
I work in retail and last year managers were given a bonus due to covid. The rest of us, nope.

"We've been able to stay at home and minimise our risk because other people have been doing essential tasks out of it."

But we weren't staying home to minimise OUR risk. We were staying home to protect the vulnerable, mainly old people and to protect the NHS.

My dh is a gas engineer worked all the way through the first month without any ppe from management the workers had to source their own. No clapping for trade workers.
I spent a day at A and E yesterday short-staffed, packed out mostly with things that definitely could have been checked by GPs no wonder my nursing friends are fed up to the back teeth with GP surgeries still not seeing people like before. I think their recent payrise was a bloody piss take to be honest.

I hear you OP.

I was a front line service in the community being spat at. No PPE to begin with.

I had to balance being a lone parent, working full hours, also trying to homeschool after work as key worker provision was more play group than education (fair enough, I couldn't expect any more they did a great job)

We were constantly understaffed, constantly stretched to the limit. And exposed.

But...I just let it go, I genuinely just laugh at the people trembling at the thought of going back to the office fully vaccinated who have no clinical vulnerability, I think "what a twat" and move on. I've been stressed enough for the past 18months...I'm not one to add more to it because people are fucking idiots. 🤣

@LaurieFairyCake

Lovely to see the remnants of the hell that is Thatcherism alive and well on this thread

Turn all the people who work against each other rather than focus on the 1-2% who've literally made millions/billions in the case of Amazon's Bezos

Well, even worse than Amazon and Bezo are those who made money from government contracts based on potential friendships, nepotism, party donations and failed to deliver what was being paid for. Hopefully one day there will be a truly independent investigation (rather than the ones conducted so far by friends of the Tories) into these government-awarded pandemic contracts.

@Lockdownbear

Why does nobody mention construction. Construction was expected to stay open throughout too. The power stations, oil & gas workers, the clean and dirty water workers, defence, bank staff, bin men & recycling workers should they all get a bonus too?

People forget about all the other hidden roles that are essential to keep the country moving.

Not all of whom were able to WFH.

Where are you going to make the cuts to pay for these bonuses?

Not WFH doesn’t necessarily mean that they took huge risks though - depending on the job. Teachers, nurses etc yes. HCP’s who did only telephone consultations etc during the pandemic not at risk. Bin men, recycling etc still at risk but not that much if all they worked with was their colleagues.

Farming family members actually enjoyed pandemic key working. Got to drive tractors in peace on empty roads 😂

@DogFoodPie

I'm a keyworker and worked throughout most of the lockdown but I don't agree with the OP. All the people who stayed home were also helping in the effort to stop the spread and by reducing the levels of contact made it safer for everyone, including those who were working outside the home. Being in lockdown was hard and lonely for many people and that should be remembered.

Thank you.

It isn't class based. The experiences weren't equal but it wasn't down to class.

Yes lots of middle class office workers worked from home but lots of middle class people worked right through in their work places, not just medics and teachers but vets, pharmacists, vicars, farmers, funeral directors, police officers, criminal lawyers, many local authority roles.

Equally many working class jobs were on furlough, paid to stay at home. All those employed in non-essential retail, hospitality, and tourism.

Those working from home and on furlough were doing so not just for their own safety but to relieve the burden on the NHS, reduce numbers on public transport and protect those who had to go to work.

@noblegiraffe

Amazing 🤣 if you’ve heard it from people who work with them it must be true! Which is why I’m sure you’ll agree that we should all believe everything we hear about teachers too.

So you're saying that it's not true that civil servants are mithering about a return to work when we've also seen ministers publicly threaten them with pay cuts if they refuse to do so?

Ok.

Obviously that’s what I’m saying. I’m not saying some people who are civil servants aren’t also cryarses, but again, we can all agree that that most certainly goes for your profession too, and everyone else’s. Thinking DfE policy officials who happen to be writing guidance on classroom hygiene ought to feel ‘shame’ for your working environment because they work from home some of the time (in the way they did pre-pandemic, given the limited office capacity the other poster mentioned that long predates it) is laughable.

There is a distinction not made in the OP between keyworker and frontline worker. 1500 health and social care staff died of Covid. I think they were and still are canon fodder. Only beaten in death statistics by bus drivers and taxi drivers, I think.

Some professions have been found in scientific studies to have no greater risk of death from Covid than any other profession, and yet still behave and agitate as if they were at serious risk of death, but in reality are not. They are key workers whose work was very much needed and appreciated during the pandemic, but were and still are far from canon fodder.

It's easy to feel bitter when I think of people complaining that their Dh now has to go back into the office.

When the furlough ends end Sept, there'll be more redundancies, more damage.

@Itsanewdah

Its not a race to the bottom. Some had a great time, some a miserable one, independent of keyworker status. My keyworker friend and husband (accountant and car mechanic) had an amazing time during lockdowns. Kids still at school, friend was fully working from home, husband 50% working from home, kids at school/daycare. They loved it, My medic BIL and his wife (also a DR) were fine. He was busy, she was bored (hardly any patients), both kids at school/daycare. Husband and I aren’t keyworkers. We had 2 kids at home (one with SENDs), both working full time (and more than normal due to business needs), home schooling plus SENDs support. We survived on 4-5 hours sleep with no personal time. Miserable. Furlough not an option. Another friend (working at a supermarket) caught covid, but was ok. Mixed bag for her. Yet another one had to end his career ( theatre) and is still on universal credit. He’s miserable. Somehow I don’t think the first examples need financial compensation, it really depends on personal circumstances

It’s such a mixed bag. FWIW your key worker friends WFH were IMO taking the mick sending children in to school, message being to keep at home if ‘could’. They could as much as you could (you had a horrible time). Yes, it would have been harder for them but their circumstances were (a lot) easier than those of others. I’d even question how an accountant is a key worker and would say that the car mechanic could have looked after children 50%. This is the inequity and some of it does come down to pure selfishness/ sense of entitlement. Also I’ll say that we offered children with SEND a ‘vulnerable’ place knowing the pressures that could be placed on families at home. All parents accepted our offer. We were careful to look to individual circumstance and to keep numbers lower relied on some WFH key worker families keeping their child at home.

Well at least people clapped for you and called you heroic. The teacher bashing on Mumsnet was so bad I quit MN last year. The teachers I know (state school) worked flat out with zero help from the government.
And then last week with grade inflation all the papers saying that private schools had higher grades because they bothered to teach unlike lazy state school teachers. Erm, no, private schools just had parents breathing down their necks more about grades!

Anyway OP I think you’re being a bit ridiculous. Life isn’t fair, we can’t all experience everything equally.

I genuinely just laugh at the people trembling at the thought of going back to the office fully vaccinated who have no clinical vulnerability, I think "what a twat" and move on.

How compassionate. I’m not one of those people but if they are “trembling” as opposed to just fussing, then they will be genuinely scared and almost certainly wish they weren’t.
They may not be being rational, but it doesn’t make them twats either.

A comment about civil servants.

It is untrue that civil servants are refusing to go back. I have managed to negotiate going back to the office 2 days a week, but that is only by claiming that WFH is affecting my mental health. Even so, my line manager has to send a form in once a week to state the reasons why it is ‘essential’ to enable me to do so. I am ‘reminded’ that I am potentially taking a space from a colleague with a greater need.

At the office there is a one way system, every other desk is taped off and only a few floors are open. Most meeting rooms, break out areas and lunch rooms are closed or heavily restricted. We have to wear masks when not at our desks.

I was speaking to a colleague based in Wales who is not allowed back at all. Many civil servants would like to go back but it is very difficult without jumping through hoops.

Thinking DfE policy officials who happen to be writing guidance on classroom hygiene ought to feel ‘shame’ for your working environment because they work from home some of the time (in the way they did pre-pandemic, given the limited office capacity the other poster mentioned that long predates it) is laughable

Yes, I think they should feel shame for writing guidelines that utterly take the piss regardless of whose orders they're following, particularly if they, themselves are mitherers.

I just let it go, I genuinely just laugh at the people trembling at the thought of going back to the office fully vaccinated who have no clinical vulnerability, I think "what a twat" and move on. I've been stressed enough for the past 18months...I'm not one to add more to it because people are fucking idiots

Aren't you a peach.

I may be fully vaccinated but I have family, who I want to see, who despite also being fully vaccinated are vulnerable and really really don't want to get Covid.
While I don't work in an office, I am still super-careful about shops, transport etc. I make no apology for the fact that I'm 'trembling at the thought of' catching Covid on a train or something and passing it to my relative in their 70s with a chronic kidney condition, or the one with a lung condition.

Aren't the unions for the DVLA workers starting some kind of legal action because of the awful way their staff have been bullied and threatened into work throughout? It sounds a mess there.