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 hear you OP! I worked all the way through in a crematorium and faced many risks with very little PPE - we didn't know how long covid stayed on bodies so we were treating it like HIV or hepatitis.

We were regularly abused/insulted by members of the public that couldn't say goodbye to loved ones - I was called a cunt and a bitch more times than I care to remember.

I still had to send my DD to school who then mixed with other key worker children...I did my job and did it to the best of my ability whilst others were furloughed.

The huge company I worked for got us a box of doughnuts and £100 Amazon voucher for our efforts. We weren't included in the NHS discounts and we're just forgotten about really.

The good thing that came from this was I left a profession that I loved as I realised I was seriously overworked and undervalued. I'm now in a job I love which fits around everything.

As several posters have said @Onandoff there are many different experiences of the pandemic all of which have been hard to deal with in their own way. Trying to reduce this to who’s had the toughest time and needs compensation is rather petty and doesn’t do justice to those involved.

Guidance in every sector was and is complex, full of inconsistencies and rarely consulted upon. It was and is changed frequently and often conflicts with itself and with other similar sectors.

This was not purely a problem in English education. This was replicated across every department and in all the UK nations. I personally experienced the Scottish government nightmare guidance in my sector.

Infuriating and exasperating yes. But let's be real. Civil servants, minsters, public health were and are continuing to make it up as they go along. That's the nature of a new and evolving pandemic.

Btw nearly all guidance is ruled on by public health with ministers and civil servants going along with it.

We need to lobby for consistency and common sense now and when it's over learn some lessons.

Much more effective than trolling individuals.

@OxanaVorontsova

As several posters have said *@Onandoff* there are many different experiences of the pandemic all of which have been hard to deal with in their own way. Trying to reduce this to who’s had the toughest time and needs compensation is rather petty and doesn’t do justice to those involved.

Completely agree

GintyMcGinty

We need to lobby for consistency and common sense now

When the teachers and our unions did this we were vilified on here, in the press, on SM and ignored by the powers that be.

If you work in a hospital and your job involves direct contact with patients (as opposed to being in HR or finance, etc) then it’s a given that you are going to come into contact with sick people. Is it really that difficult to grasp? I really am baffled by all these healthcare workers who go on about “putting their lives at risk” and “dealing with patients all day long”. It’s what happens when you decide to work in healthcare. Could I do it? No, that’s why I don’t.

Everyone sacrificed something. Many “non-essential” workers lost income, the change of career progression and development, some businesses didn’t survive at all. We were told where I work that we could either be furloughed with no guarantee the job will be there for you at the end of keep working for s massive pay cut (in my case over 50%). It wasn’t easy for anyone.

Unpopular opinion but I’m done with the martyrdom of some. The rest of us just got on with it and made the best of the situation we had.

When the teachers and our unions did this we were vilified on here, in the press, on SM and ignored by the powers that be

I liked going to work during the height of the pandemic (I'm a secondary school teacher) because it was better than staring at a screen all day. But it was scary. It was just a bit peculiar sitting in a classroom with 30 kids while other people walked around in hazmat suits cleaning bits of the school where the infection had been.

I still get a bit of rage about the rhetoric that went around about schools - I had very covid woke friends denounce anyone who broke the rules while insisting that 'schools are safe.' I just don't believe anyone really thinks that schools can be 'safe' when other much smaller gatherings were deemed unsafe. I just wish people acknowledged we were taking one for the team instead of just treating us as the nation's sacrificial babysitters.

I still have relatives who won't come near me when I go back to school. I get it and I know on a rational level that they have a right to protect their families, but it feels really unfair that I can't do family life because I chose this job long before there was a deadly pandemic....

When the teachers and our unions did this we were vilified on here, in the press, on SM and ignored by the powers that be*

Pressed too soon

None of that is unique to teachers. Lots of sectors - including mine - have had a dreadful time. It's not a competition.

GintyMcGinty

None of that is unique to teachers. Lots of sectors - including mine - have had a dreadful time. It's not a competition.

I haven't claimed that it is unique to teachers or a competition.

I was pointing out that we have already done what you suggested and it was discarded or used against us.

@KentuckyCriedFricken

If you work in a hospital and your job involves direct contact with patients (as opposed to being in HR or finance, etc) then it’s a given that you are going to come into contact with sick people. Is it really that difficult to grasp? I really am baffled by all these healthcare workers who go on about “putting their lives at risk” and “dealing with patients all day long”. It’s what happens when you decide to work in healthcare. Could I do it? No, that’s why I don’t.

Everyone sacrificed something. Many “non-essential” workers lost income, the change of career progression and development, some businesses didn’t survive at all. We were told where I work that we could either be furloughed with no guarantee the job will be there for you at the end of keep working for s massive pay cut (in my case over 50%). It wasn’t easy for anyone.

Unpopular opinion but I’m done with the martyrdom of some. The rest of us just got on with it and made the best of the situation we had.

YY to this. As I've said I do have sympathy for those who genuinely found things frightening but those of us, including medical staff, who chose public service careers should have thought about the possibility that there may be times when we might actually be called to do some public service. Most of us did and I am full of admiration and gratitude for most medical professionals but sometimes I read these threads and despair of the downright cowardice I hear from some. I clapped outside for the OP every Thursday very grateful for what she was doing but apparently she was just bitter and felt that someone else (who?) should have been doing the work she got paid for instead. Depressing even for a 'Pollyanna'.

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?

Do you understand just how difficult the DfE have made teachers' jobs over the last couple of years (and indeed before that) by doing a poor job with documentation and communication? We know Gav is shit and yes, he signs off on policies and guidelines, but he is not writing them word for word all by himself (as you have said, you could not be replaced by dictation software). Confusing lack of clarity, basic errors that need to be corrected almost immediately, poor version control, wrong documents being uploaded causing a ruck on social media....that's not just Gav.

Why do you think teachers are fussed? It should be pretty obvious? Because maybe, just maybe, there's actually a problem. Like I said, the Public Accounts Committee was horrified at how things were being run.

If you haven't read the documents or guidelines or know the issues, then maybe you are premature in your defence.

You've pointed out that I've defended teachers on here. Yes, absolutely. Particularly when there have been unfair generalisations. But there have been many times when someone has posted a specific, genuine complaint or problem and I have said 'that's not good enough' and pointed in the direction of helpful resources as a workaround or given advice on how to proceed.

I’m not sure what you expect the privileged middle classes to have done.

I worked at home throughout (and still am). I did so because I was told to by my employer. If they’d said you have to work from the office, I’d have done so happily.

OP beware that you do not know the full picture of people's circumstances. These middle class jobs come with responsibilities and issues of their own. On paper I am lucky to WFH but the reality is that it has been a pretty tough time being thrown into it suddenly, having to work longer hours, change procedures to deal with WFH, not having the right tools or tech for this, colleagues not pulling their weight or not coping well WFH, people refusing to return to the office but perfectly happy to socialise and go abroad on holidays. It's a minefield and not always as rosey as it seems.

Two essential workers here and in both cases lip service was paid to safety but our places of employment were certainly not covid safe. We had no option but to get on with it. Unless you're CEV or CV I will eyeroll massively at you being scared to go back to work. I also know of people who are scared of going back to work but perfectly happy to be out socialising. That's a complete WTF for me 🙄

DH was a keyworker and I was (still am) WFH. He concluded that he was better off at work, after seeing me struggle at home for various reasons. I applied for secondments at work which would take me out of the house, offered to do meals on wheels to people shielding but employer wanted me writing reports from home. Neither of us furloughed, our flexi system was suspended so some weeks I was working very long hours. But at the same time we both had / have job security.

There's little point debating whether those going out to jobs or WFH had the worst of it, as it's all subjective, and largely boils down to how frightened you were/are of covid. Those of us who, due to our circumstances and our understanding of the odds knew our risk to be very slight, would not be expected to be treated at heroes for going out to work, as if you're not frightened anyway, you're not really being brave. And for many of us going out was infinitely preferable to being kept in. Those who perceived, rightly or wrongly, that they were in great danger, but went out to work anyway, will naturally consider themselves more deserving of recognition.

@ejhhhhh

I feel really quite angry, about the lack of appreciation and expectations put on us (I’m a teacher) tbh, not to mention the downright vitriol from elements of society and the press. I’m sick to the back teeth of being a political football, and of those who think we should not complain about the risk to our health, and our students’ health, because teaching is a “vocation”. Extra work has just been heaped on us, much of which is not at all within our areas of expertise and most definitely not part of the job description, for no extra pay at all. The government have deemed it appropriate to reward us with a pay freeze, who knows how long before we can an actual raise, even in line with inflation would be better than nothing. I’m probably most cross about the Teacher Assessed Grades fiasco (which I concede is a bit off topic, but it exemplifies the fundamental unfairness of it all). I don’t know how much extra work this was, but it was days and days, all squeezed in during evenings and weekends, not to mention the stress and pressure of actually awarding fair grades so everything was triple checked. But for some unfathomable reason, not only was all this extra work unpaid, but schools actually had to pay the exam boards for the privilege of doing their job for them for free. Whilst exam board employees did what exactly? Sat around at home scratching their arses and occasionally sending an email with “guidance” that wasn’t actually helpful, or a dodgy cut and paste job of old exam questions, in the hope that they would fool some exhausted teachers into believing they had actually written some new exam material. I don’t feel in any way bitter to all those well paid professional who have wfh throughout, unless you’re in charge of an exam board, or Ofqual, or the Department of Education, in which case you can F off, and I hope you feel really guilty. I don’t expect ANYTHING from the current excuse for a government, not simple safety measures or any mitigations to all really, I know that’s too much to ask because back bench MPs will have a tantrum if teenagers are forced to wear masks. But I’d be really really stoked if all those wfh professionals in well paid jobs could all show their appreciation by just not voting Tory.

@ejhhhhh

Well said ! 100% agree

@noblegiraffe

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?

Do you understand just how difficult the DfE have made teachers' jobs over the last couple of years (and indeed before that) by doing a poor job with documentation and communication? We know Gav is shit and yes, he signs off on policies and guidelines, but he is not writing them word for word all by himself (as you have said, you could not be replaced by dictation software). Confusing lack of clarity, basic errors that need to be corrected almost immediately, poor version control, wrong documents being uploaded causing a ruck on social media....that's not just Gav.

Why do you think teachers are fussed? It should be pretty obvious? Because maybe, just maybe, there's actually a problem. Like I said, the Public Accounts Committee was horrified at how things were being run.

If you haven't read the documents or guidelines or know the issues, then maybe you are premature in your defence.

You've pointed out that I've defended teachers on here. Yes, absolutely. Particularly when there have been unfair generalisations. But there have been many times when someone has posted a specific, genuine complaint or problem and I have said 'that's not good enough' and pointed in the direction of helpful resources as a workaround or given advice on how to proceed.

Oh god, is the ‘Gav’ stuff absolutely necessary? It’s painful.

I fear you’re overestimating my interest in teachers or classroom guidance or anything of that nature. Of course I haven’t read any documents or guidelines on classroom Covid security; why should I have? I don’t work for DfE, I don’t work in a school, I don’t have school age children. I have my own policy area, in an equally crucial sector that’s been just as impacted by lockdown, and any government guidance on Covid I’ve read outwith that is the bits that have impacted me directly. What I do understand very well is how policymaking and the chain of accountability and the interaction between ministers and policy officials work. Which is why I laughed at the notion that DfE policy officials should feel ashamed for writing that specific piece of guidance that had riled you. It’s comparably absurd for you to say they should feel ashamed for writing it as it would be for anyone to say you should feel ashamed for following it. I don’t believe that, and I don’t think you’re wrong to defend teachers against the ridiculous generalisations they’re often the subject of; I do think you’re wrong to make them against other public sector workers whose work you clearly don’t have anything more than the crudest understanding of, when you rightly object to it happening to you.

Agree with all the criticisms of exam boards. Absolute joke.

Quite agree op
My son worked as a carer all last year
Going into about 20 homes a day , often where people had covid for the princely sun of £10 an hour

It was the only job he could do to it food on the table for his partner and three sons

As a college student, there was no furlough for him
It’s a huge travesty

When covid hit I felt an anxiety I’ve never felt before (or since.) My job involves endless contact with covid patients in the community, and I felt (and still do) that the organisation of and protection offered by my employers was laughable.

I spent over £1000 sourcing proper PPE for myself and 2 close friends at work. Course, it wasn’t authorised. In those early days we were bullied and ridiculed by seniors, told my properly sourced and regulated higher level PPE was unauthorised. I had to source my own vaccine as my employers were still faffing about trying to organise it by March….I could go on.

How has it affected me? I spend a lot of time looking for another job; I have zero respect or faith in my employer, i have to try and understand my sisters ongoing fears re catching covid, whilst wfh and double jabbed, when I have spent 18 months (and still ongoing) going into covid ridden houses. I’ve become cynical, hard I guess. I have zero sympathy with those who have chosen not to be jabbed but have no qualms exposing others (me, other health care workers) endlessly to their deteriorating infectious disease. I suspect I will snap one day and tell someone what I really think, then get fired. And neither myself or my 2 friends have caught it yet, literally everyone else at work has. Go figure that one out.

@5128gap
No one in my family of 12 has been scared of it
We’ve all met up , socialised and kept life as normal as possible for the children

Thankfully we’ve all survived with our mental health intact

mrsnoodle55

When covid hit I felt an anxiety I’ve never felt before (or since.) My job involves endless contact with covid patients in the community, and I felt (and still do) that the organisation of and protection offered by my employers was laughable.

I quite agree mrs noodle
My son did the same in clients homes wearing a flimsy mask, a plastic apron and a pair of vinyl gloves

For the most deadly virus in history? 😱

Yeah right!
No wonder we carried on as normal with a normal Christmas easter and birthday gatherings

It would’ve been stupid not to.

None of our 12 family have been jabbed and none have had covid either

My son is now studying at uni and works a lot with surgeons
Many of whom aren’t jabbed either