"These fools, man" (Diary of a Tubeworker)

Submitted by AWL on 1 December, 2020 - 6:40 Author: Jay Dawkey
Tube worker

“These fools, man.” E shakes his head. “If we had locked down earlier we wouldn’t need this. And now what? More lockdown after this.” “Cummings, Johnson, idiots. That’s why I don’t vote, bruv.”

That is a sentiment not uncommon on the station. Most people accept Labour might be doing a better job, some people think Corbyn was screwed over by the press, but politicians are politicians and they are not to be trusted.

We used to have a manager who was a member of the Labour Party. The only person ever to criticise Sadiq Khan... from the right. “What can he expect from the TfL deal if keeps calling the government incompetent? That is not good negotiation.”

Most people are more worried about whether the new manager will try and change our shifts. Throughout the pandemic we have done shorter hours, where possible. Fewer people have been needed and we have limited space for people to sit when not out on the gateline. Most of the time it has worked out all right. A lot of rumours fly around that he wants change. So far we haven’t had anyone actually change it though. We just keep getting told it might happen.

Until it does we’ll keep on with what we have got. It isn’t perfect but it means less time where we might be exposed to the virus.

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