Working Through A Crisis
By Diarmuid Flood
Article originally published in Issue 7 of Rupture, Ireland’s eco-socialist quarterly, buy the print issue:
Despite attempts to draw a distinction between ‘essential workers’ and everyone else, the Covid pandemic has had a heavy impact on workers in all sectors.
In most cases, the stresses and strains of the pandemic were placed on their shoulders while employers and the state sought to cut corners in favour of quick and easy solutions.
As part of our theme of Work, we interviewed three different workers from three different sectors to see how the pandemic impacted their work conditions, what difficulties they experienced, and whether they felt they were given adequate support from their employer and/or the State.
Retail worker in South Leinster
1.What is your job, what sector do you work in, and what does your role require?
I work in a [supermarket] in the South Leinster area. As a customer assistant, I work on the shop floor, generally on check-outs but also packing the shelves.
2. What were your conditions like during the pandemic? What changes did you experience in your workplace?
When the lockdown was first introduced in March 2020, changes to protect staff and customers were implemented immediately. This included social-distancing stickers placed two metres apart on the shop floor, perspex screens around the checkouts, and a plentiful supply of hand sanitizer and wipes. Extra security staff were employed to regulate the number of customers allowed into the store at any one time. Customers were also advised to shop alone and to minimise the amount of time they spent in the store. Staff were paid a 10% bonus for working during the pandemic and hot food was supplied in the canteen.
3.What type of strains did this place on you and your fellow workers?
As time moved on, there was a row-back by management on a number of these measures. The covid bonus was withdrawn after six weeks, as was the hot food. A “traffic light” system replaced security staff in regulating the number of customers admitted into the store. When a certain number of customers were in the store, the “traffic light” switched to red; customers would then wait for a green light in order to be allowed to enter. The system counted customers as they entered and departed from the store. The fact that this system operated efficiently did not please the store managers. They manipulated the system in two ways. Firstly they extended the area of the store to include the counters at the deli. These are areas where customers are not allowed; therefore it meant more customers were allowed into the store as the square meterage increased artificially. The other strategy used was workers being counted leaving the store as if they were customers, effectively allowing in more customers.
4.Do you feel that you were given adequate support and/or protection against infection by your employer?
[My employer’s] profits increased during the pandemic. They rewarded staff by attempting to do away with premium pay rates, paid for working Sundays, public holidays and early mornings. This was, however, rejected by 88% of staff. It is clear from [my employer’s] behaviour during the lockdown that their interest is maximising profit at the expense of workers. We need a united fight back across all branches of the company.
Teacher in Mayo
What is your job, what sector do you work in, and what does your role require?
Secondary science teacher. It requires endless patience! It requires working with over 200 students in all my classes from 1st to 6th year, numerous support groups, chess club, science weeks, greenschools, parent-teacher meetings, exam corrections, staff meetings and being school steward and Central Executive Council Rep for West Mayo branch of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI).
2. What were your conditions like during the pandemic? What changes did you experience in your workplace?
Obviously, classroom conditions were much more restrictive with masks, lack of group work and no extra-curricular activities, which really sapped the life out of the school. Constant cleaning protocols slowed progress a lot.
There was a rapid shift to online delivery of courses which was badly hindered by the lack of adequate IT. This highlighted the lack of investment in education and the serious inequality in the system between those who have good access to tech and those that don’t. In the first few months of the pandemic, many students from poor backgrounds were losing out on learning opportunities until September 2020, when the investment demanded by the unions eventually materialised. Since then, the online experience has been much more positive.
3. What type of strains did this place on you and your fellow workers?
During the lockdowns, especially the first one, teachers found themselves doing huge hours, producing content and correcting and following up on issues. It was very stressful. Teaching in the class with the mask on and with a room full of students in masks was difficult. Constantly having to ask the students to repeat their question, not being able to identify where a question came from, straining the voice speaking through the mask to be heard etc.
Having to constantly remind students to keep the mask over their nose was very frustrating. Trying to keep students socially distanced was an exercise in futility, as they are hardwired to be social, and they live very much in the moment, forgetting very quickly that we are in the midst of a pandemic, but there was never any issue; they just kept forgetting.
4. Do you feel that you were given adequate support and/or protection against infection by your employer or the state?
I don’t believe we were given adequate protection at all. There were very few extra spaces provided to allow for distancing or to reduce class sizes adequately. Masks had to be fought for by the unions, particularly my own, the ASTI.
There was no filtration system provided by the state until the end of the pandemic when they introduced a cumbersome grant system instead of bulk buying and delivering centrally. In my own school, we were lucky that management agreed to install HEPA filter units in each classroom, which gave great peace of mind to teachers and students alike. Especially those with an underlying medical condition that made them more susceptible to Covid.
““Trying to keep students socially distanced was an exercise in futility, as they are hardwired to be social, and they live very much in the moment””
There were also disgraceful actions taken towards teachers who had serious medical conditions whereby a private company “Medmark”, employed by the state to assess the medical status of teachers, downgraded many teachers from very serious to a lower level of vulnerability with the result that they wouldn’t qualify for the Covid medical leave. Many teachers in this situation either resigned or were forced into retirement. I thought this was a really disgraceful act, and the fact that this was done by an outsourced private company allowed the department of education and the government to wash their hands of it. In this instance, the unions, including my own, the ASTI, did very little to publicly pressure the government or highlight this. Which is why I believe we need to rebuild unions to be more militant and controlled democratically from below.
5. What have things been like since the government decided to end restrictions? Has there been any further issues? Has there been a ‘return to normal’ as touted by some in government?
As I understand the situation from speaking to teachers in other schools, most schools are taking a cautious approach and not undoing all the restrictions straight away. Masks are mostly gone, but a minority of students continue to wear them and teachers tend to wear them, when moving through the room or through the school.
The staggered breaks and yard segregation by school year group are still in place [at time of writing]. School extracurriculars are rapidly getting back to normal.
Healthcare worker in Dublin
1. What is your job, what sector do you work in, and what does your role require?
I work in cancer care in a large public hospital. We are an out-patient department that patients attend between the hours of 9 am to 6 pm. We are a very busy department and are not very well staffed at the best of times.
2. What were your conditions like during the pandemic? What changes did you experience in your workplace?
During the PPE shortage at the beginning of Covid, we were each given three masks per day (each mask was worn for 2.5 hours and changed after the break). Masks and all other PPE were kept under lock and key by management. Covid positive patients still require cancer care, and so we were treating these patients with limited PPE.
This was at the beginning of the pandemic, when no one was vaccinated and we didn’t know the risks of contracting Covid. I have colleagues who moved out of their homes during the 5km restriction era as they had vulnerable family members.
Staff who technically could have worked from home (admin staff, planning staff, support staff) were still required to attend the hospital. No provisions were made which would allow them to work from home.
3. What type of strains did this place on you and your fellow workers?
When the schools closed, and when the majority of the workforce in Ireland were working from home, we were still attending the hospital to work 8 hour shifts. Colleagues with children were balancing this. Those who had partners working from home said they didn’t see them during this time as their partners would watch the kids in the day, and they would then work at night. Other colleagues had to take annual leave in order to look after their children. The level of stress around child-care was palpable, and no provisions were made by the government for these hospital workers.
““Covid outbreaks are the highest throughout the pandemic among staff, and this has led to a huge amount of stress and strain””
We never received antigen testing (even when this was being encouraged in other workplaces). This tactic was not for the safety of staff or patients, but to avoid staff being out on paid sick leave. We were trained on the correct use of PPE when treating Covid patients, but the additional physical strain and stress involved in treating these patients was never recognised. I remember not visiting my family for three months because I was afraid I would give them Covid as a result of working in the hospital.
Several factors contribute to poor staff retention including a lack of advanced practitioner roles (available in the NHS), and on-call and pay rates which are still not back to pre-2008 levels. Opportunities for career advancement and better pay and working conditions abroad lead to a yearly exodus of workers qualified in Ireland.
4. What have things been like since the government decided to end restrictions? Has there been any further issues? Has there been a ‘return to normal’ as touted by some in government?
We are currently treating more Covid-positive patients than ever. Covid outbreaks are the highest throughout the pandemic among staff, and this has led to a huge amount of stress and strain given we are essentially working everyday with a skeleton staff even though we are treating at full capacity. The conditions now are as bad as at the height of the pandemic. We have lost many experienced staff members over the past two years. Staff are leaving because of the lack of flexibility and because we are not being adequately paid. As inflation increases, health care staff are essentially faced with a pay cut this year. I don’t see myself remaining working for the HSE in the coming years as the toll of the past two years has been too great.