Workers' Diaries

Articles and interviews recounting people's experiences at work. The "My life at work" series of interviews with workers; and the "Diary of an Engineer/a Tubeworker/a DWP worker"; and similar.

Diary of a Tube worker: “Why not just tell us the info?”

“Red means stop. Yellow means slow down and green means proceed. Really it’s as simple as that... Now some signals you need to do a certain speed for them to clear and some will almost always clear as you approach them but they might not so you need to be ready to stop. If you are motoring into a red signal, you’ve got a problem” “Hit a platform at a certain speed and you’ll be fine, you can crawl in for now but once out on the road you’ll want to keep to time. Then the routes will just become second nature and you’ll get used to driving in different weather conditions and then you’ll be fine”...

"We don't get sick leave. It's just statutory"

The night shift operators seem to have smashed the crane and grab into a wall. No one will admit fault, but it’s a mess. The grabs are connected to the crane with heavy shackles and thick steel cables. When we first inspect the ropes one of the guides has splayed open, which must have taken incredible force. The crane engineer replaces it immediately. I assist the hydraulics contractors on the grab while the electricians work on the crane controls. The contractors — A and S — gather spanners, rags, paper overalls and work permit, then head into the pit where the grab is parked on a concrete...

Diary of an engineer: Promotion and respect

My line manager pulls me into his office and says: “I’m sure you’ve heard by now that A is retiring.” A is the plant compliance manager, meaning she makes sure the company sticks to its emissions limits. From what I know, she works from an office writing reports to powerful agencies and issuing instructions to plant staff — health and safety bulletins, training requirements, and requests for data. A is also the most “high up” of the four women on site, and outside of the managers’ office floor we barely see each other. She’s been kind to me, but also sometimes sexist and unhelpful. She happens...

Diary of an engineer: "I realise it's bullshit"

After a botched job where we failed to weld pipe brackets onto a steel girder, I decide I need to get the hang of welding. Most of our time between jobs is taking turns at the workshop stick welder. L is the most experienced, J is very proud of his straight lines, and I’m happy to have overcome my fear of burns and electrocution — progress! The time spent concentrating intensely on a small dot of molten metal make me feel a bit light-headed. When we’re not practising welding, me and J are trying to use the new job-logging software. Unlike the old software, getting hold of jobs directly...

Diary of a Tube worker: "If we hadn't kicked off..."

“Even when Boris announced the lockdown they wanted us to continue the training. I will never forgive them for that. Sorry if it sounds like I don’t care, or I am not putting any extra back in, but that is how I feel now. If we hadn’t kicked off, they would have tried to force us into unsafe work. Now, whatever they do, I will remember that”. K, an instructor driver, is not particularly happy to be back instructing. “And even now, I ask to be released so I can do what I think helps the trainees, but instead they are just giving me normal duties, and I am sick of wearing a mask in a train cab...

Diary of an engineer: Capping the laughing gas

The apprentices haven’t seen each other since November, and it’s good to work with L. He has a lot of electrical knowledge, works diligently and has a very cool head. We work together installing a fan in the workshop (P’s fan, we call it, as it was his idea). Free of supervision, we can take our time cutting and tapping metal conduit so it fits snugly against the ceiling, running the cable neatly and listening to L’s “classic rock” playlist — now and then L breaks out in songs and head-banging. He’s twenty-one, likes cars, fishing, and scotch whisky. We learn this week about two projects the...

Red, blue and talking

The maintenance engineers are all back in the building, on normal hours. It’s fantastic being able to have breakfast at home, and commuting in at seven instead of five. The days seem indulgently short, and my free evenings are long and sunny. I’m with the electricians, so the week is filled with small jobs — changing light fittings, replacing a flow sensor, installing security cameras in the workshop, and deep-cleaning it the next day. We’re not used to working in teams; we communicate badly and make stupid errors. J sends the wrong calibration certificate to a manager; A routes the camera...

Diary of a paramedic: "Proceed with caution"

I’m working with a new paramedic. After we check our equipment we sit and have a quick cup of tea. We talk about the pay offer, the miserable 1%. He says he can’t believe that the government is using the crisis to pit those that have suffered most financially against us instead of recognising our work. Our conversation is interrupted by our first call. We go out and get on with the job. On our break there’s, unusually, a few other crews on station. One of them is writing a report about a violent incident they’ve been to, and we get into a discussion about everyone’s experiences. A few people...

Diary of an engineer: Nest of vipers

Work is depressingly slow. The fewer jobs there are, the more lethargic we become. L keeps suggesting: “We’ll do that tomorrow — spread it out. Our problem today was that we started too early, that’s why the morning’s dragging.” A trip to the control room turns into a drink in the control room, then long discussions that become increasingly awful to listen to. I offer to make a round of drinks and A says says to N — “It’s International Women’s Day, you should offer to make drinks.” N doesn’t offer. Instead everyone goes silent and looks at me, as if they expect me to make a speech. I feel...

Diary of a Tube worker: "Leave me alone, I'm staying the night"

“You can’t stay here”, W says. “Sit up, and, please, you’ll need to leave.” The man with the red face and tangled hair continues to relax on the floor, his bottle of rum by his side and the Sainsbury’s bag as his pillow. W walks back to his office, shaking his head. The guy has been here an hour, and by declaring he plans to stay the night he’s caused more trouble for himself then he might have wanted. “Excuse me”, someone says, doubling back to the barriers. I know what they are going to say. I pre-empt them. “Yep, we’ve seen him. Don’t worry he’s drunk, not collapsed.” “The humanitarian in...

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