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.

I don't disagree with you at all and I have been very fortunate to work from home. I think it has been hugely unfair and agree that frontline workers are poorly paid for what they do and shouldn't have to pay for the financial fallout from this. This is a capitalist society and therefore can feel very unfair at times.

I’m sure it’s difficult to write good, clear guidance based on incoherence and confusion. So I feel a bit sorry for civil servants trying to do so under the aegis of this government.

@MiddleParking
They could have had teachers as part of a bubble, or not even mentioned the 2m thing. Or made some sort of noise that 2m may not always be possible. The alternative in this case has been a complete division between the DfE and schools. The trust and goodwill is gone. The £1K bonus payments for DfE workers came from someone's brain...

@Hercisback

I also certainly don’t believe that that’s because a team of civil servants wouldn’t have been capable of writing good, clear guidance. So Gav doesn't write it, nor do the civil service, so who does?

Of course the civil service write it. But there was no ministerial appetite for the guidance to be good and clear and consistent and to genuinely make classrooms safe, I imagine because the good, clear, consistent policy options for doing so would have looked like “a) don’t have any people in said classrooms, b) spend a fuck ton of money - like, loads - making them safe or finding safe alternatives and hold ourselves properly accountable for them being so”, and there was even less ministerial appetite for that.

I remember the Public Accounts Committee being horrified at being told by the DfE spokesperson that their policies weren't actually put in front of anyone working in schools to see if they were practical before being published.

But there was no ministerial appetite for the guidance to be good and clear and consistent

So the DfE only attempt to write policies that are good, clear and consistent if the minister instructs them to?

Key worker compensation is absolutely needed. Pretty sure there are other industries (offshore oil and gas comes to mind) that offer hazard pay in addition to the base salary, based on risk. And as far as I know, that was in place long before the pandemic.

Hazard pay and an above-inflation raise for key workers would be an investment into retaining talent, which we need. Physician burnout is real. Nurse burnout is real. The NHS backlog won't get any better if the people capable of taking care of us are all at the end of their tether and have to quit. As far as I see it, there isn't a surplus of young replacements waiting to fill in those gaps either (and even if there were, who would be left with enough experience to train them all?).

And that's the bare minimum. Funding the system properly so that working conditions aren't leading straight to burnout (an issue before the pandemic too) is also required.

@noblegiraffe

But there was no ministerial appetite for the guidance to be good and clear and consistent

So the DfE only attempt to write policies that are good, clear and consistent if the minister instructs them to?

I’ve no idea what they attempted to write, and as I said I don’t work there, but of course what got published was at their minister’s behest. That’s how it works. Could you try rereading and trying your best to understand before constantly asking me to repeat myself? I’m sure you know only too well how tiresome that becomes.

At least someone is being honest that maybe, just maybe, some civil servants at the DfE are not entirely blameless

One of the issues about SOME senior civil servants is that they may be very intelligent but can lack basic common sense or experience of life outside their Oxbridge bubble. This is why we need more genuine equality of opportunity. I am an ex Whitehall civil servant btw, so speak from experience!

By default then, all civil service policies aren't supposed to be good, clear and consistent. Wow.

No matter who is in government, surely this should be a basic requirement.

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

I have not rtft but I hear you OP.

I think people seem to forget that in those first weeks it was terrifying. We knew little about the virus and how it was spread.
We didn't have enough masks.
Everytime I walked into work I thought that is it I'm going to get it and could potentially die.

I was beyond fucked off with the " well it is a risk of the job you chose" no it bloody well isn't. We were at the time sacrificial lambs.

We saw horrific stuff and were shattered
I have since left the NHS.
I worked through the 2 waves and as a result now have PTSD.
I work in radiology and was redeployed to ITU in December, it was a shambles.

The NHS is largely ran on goodwill and for me after covid my goodwill was on empty.

What do you think should have happened? I do believe people who say they are traumatised by having to work through this but what was the alternative? I felt very much that it was exactly what I'd signed up for but I realise that we all have different circumstances, personalities and levels of resilience so i hope this doesn't come across as criticism of how you felt.

@Hercisback

By default then, all civil service policies aren't supposed to be good, clear and consistent. Wow.

No matter who is in government, surely this should be a basic requirement.

If it's good, it's down to the civil service being able to write clear, consistent policy. If it's bad, it's down to the minister. Natch.

I’ve no idea what they attempted to write, and as I said I don’t work there, but of course what got published was at their minister’s behest. That’s how it works. Could you try rereading and trying your best to understand before constantly asking me to repeat myself? I’m sure you know only too well how tiresome that becomes.

Made sense to me.

Not sure why the vitriol about this. You'd think teachers of all people might think twice about the "I don't know how your job works or how much influence you have or even what it is you do day-to-day, but I'm sure I could do it much better" approach, given how much they see it directed at them. But nope!

@Hercisback

By default then, all civil service policies aren't supposed to be good, clear and consistent. Wow.

No matter who is in government, surely this should be a basic requirement.

They’re not ‘civil service policies’. That’s the whole point. They are government policies and if people vote for shitehawkery in their government that’s generally what they get, and unfortunately also what everyone else gets, no matter how good the drafting skills of the policy officials (usually they are very good, at least once someone’s been doing it a while).

I’m sure you know only too well how tiresome that becomes.

As does resorting to tones of world weary faux exasperation when one runs out of valid points to make in an argument. It doesn’t work with sixth formers, let alone teachers.

Yes, felt like absolute cannon fodder as a front liner.

@borntobequiet

I’m sure you know only too well how tiresome that becomes.

As does resorting to tones of world weary faux exasperation when one runs out of valid points to make in an argument. It doesn’t work with sixth formers, let alone teachers.

In what sense do you think I’ve run out of valid arguments? I’ve made plenty. Whether you can grasp them or not is sort of besides the point.

I think the point is with the DfE that the drafting skills were pretty shit, there was update after update. Or worse, updates where they didn't tell anyone and it was only spotted after comparing screenshot of webpages.

We'll agree to disagree re the DfE and who writes what. You're not doing them any favours here.

I was furloughed, but was completely thankful to return to my job in a shop. The pandemic did expose a divide, my white collar friends and family were, and continued to be horrified that I use public transport rather than get a bike, go into shops and live my life as normal. I on the other hand think they are all behaving like over privileged babies.
The moment for me that really cemented the divide was the utter callousness of the wfh people with regard to the Pret redundancy’s. No thought to how devastating it was, just how they don’t go anymore so it’s all ok because they can work from home in jammies.
Also, as an aside, I really don’t think home working healthy, home is home and needs to be kept that way. Leaving the house is a good thing, we need it.

Whether you can grasp them or not is sort of besides the point.

Now on to the ad hominem. Well done.

If it's good, it's down to the civil service being able to write clear, consistent policy. If it's bad, it's down to the minister. Natch.

See, this is where I’m a bit nonplussed by teachers of all people getting so exercised about this, because surely you get enough of this attitude? I don’t think that no teacher can ever be good at or proud of the job they do because some kids are thick as two short planks and/or badly behaved wee fuckers and always will be. I accept that that’s just the way the world works.

Hercisback

I can't speak for primary but they definitely don't understand secondary.

@Hercisback

I think the point is with the DfE that the drafting skills were pretty shit, there was update after update. Or worse, updates where they didn't tell anyone and it was only spotted after comparing screenshot of webpages.

We'll agree to disagree re the DfE and who writes what. You're not doing them any favours here.

I’m not doing the DfE any favours? I wasn’t trying to I don’t work for DfE and never have. It was the civil service I was talking about. Policies being updated too frequently is the responsibility of ministers, I don’t know how many more times this can be said.

Does anyone else really dislike the war rhetoric that’s been used for the propaganda for dealing with this pandemic.
‘Front line workers’ ‘cannon fodder’ etc
If you want to know what it means to be actual cannon fodder look at what’s going on in various places around the world where real wars are occurring. Then sit back and be grateful that the biggest worry you’ve got is whether you’re going to wear a face mask in the supermarket or not.

You're clearly very bitter. In the kindest way possible, that won't be a helpful emotion in the long run.

We all had a rough ride over lockdown. As a pp said, same storm, different boats. Different journeys but not necessarily easier ones, even if they seem so.