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AN INTERVIEW WITH AN INSULATOR AT A HOSPITAL

In another line of work at the Vancouver General Hospital, Bernie spoke with the Other Press about what it is like to be an insulator right now. His site is the last one left open
as his company has temporarily shut down all other projects until further notice. When asked whether he considers himself an essential worker, Bernie commented, “I don’t
consider myself an essential worker. Personally, I have no idea why we are still working, but we are working at a hospital, so that might have something to do with it. Maybe the
government cannot afford for every site to shut down—that’s a lot of EI to payout. I’m just happy that I am one of the people that still have a job.”

The biggest differences in Bernie’s job due to the pandemic is due to social distancing; only three people can be on the lift at a time—and workers must be focused on
separate tasks. “Purell is widely available, and a hot water tank and sinks have been installed on the roof where we work. Face masks and respirators have been made available.
The lift causes lots of delays as it usually takes 20 minutes to get up and down now. And COVID-19 is a highly talked about topic in safety meetings.”

   
  
    

   
   

SOCIAL DISTANCING DRAMA Allow 2M
The changes applied to Bernie's site are not all bad though; “COVID-19 hasn't really affected my job on the day-to-day.

e work itself is identical to how it was before. No one has betwe (=) 9 changed the work, it’s just everything else. Like how we betwe en
get to work. Traffic is lighter, parking is easier, work is lighter. Sometimes I deal with stupid people, like this one guy who
doesn't want to wait for the lift. There’s always that one dude S a] @) @) p (=) QS that’s lipping off and being mouthy, but we are all paid by (WS a] @) @) p ers
the hour, so it doesn’t matter. Safety first.”

asked if he could tell me more about the lift and what it’s like. To which he responded, “It's like we're in prison.
Three people enter, two face the north wall, one faces the west, and there's the lift operator. We're not allowed to
look at each other.” When asked how he feels about his position now versus before the pandemic, Bernie stated that it feels mostly the same. “It’s a little quieter around the
job site with so many people in self-quarantine.” Lasting changes that he would like to see kept up are “the sanitary standards of the restrooms to stay where they are... they
are very clean because, with COVID-19, they are cleaning those things daily. I feel confident in going number two at work.” And lastly, | asked how long Bernie intended to
work for—to which he replied he’d “work until they shut us down.” Here’s hoping that isn’t anytime soon.

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Whether essential or not, anyone who's still working any job during this war deserves a pat on the back, compassion, and courtesy. What's important is that we are all in this
together. Life will be back to normal soon enough—but until then, we all should unite against the virus. We already have a shared common enemy—who needs another?

Allow 2M
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It's like we're 1n prison. Three people enter, two face between

the north wall, one faces the west, and there's the lift shoppers
operator. We're not allowed to look at each other.”

 

 

 

 

 

Photos bv Moraan Hannah