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.

How to become an underpaid monkey

It surprised me that there was no formal policy on working at heights before the early 2000s. In the early part of my time it was expected of you to get up there, somehow, and get the job done without falling off. I was terrified of working at heights and would not even go up a step ladder if I could avoid it. As time went on, however, it was made clear to me that it was part of the job and so up I went, learning how to juggle an AVO meter, oil can, various spanners, cleaning fluids, and cloths. The principle was straightforward: keep three points of contact at all times, that is two feet and...

It goes nee-naw

A firefighter prides themselves on an instinctive ability to distinguish the different emergency service sirens. More than once, my self-esteem has crumbled after a rich vein of form with that ability has come to a shuddering halt. Each emergency service has a particular tone that it is identified with historically and in the popular consciousness, still colloquially known as two-tone or the blues and twos. But they all now have a variety of sirens — a nee-naw; a faster-paced yelp; a long, stretched-out wail. Consequently, the distinctions between them are subtle and I have gone from an...

How to avoid getting hit by a train

When I joined the railway, decades ago, I was repeatedly told that it was the second most dangerous job in the UK after saturation deep sea diving. Actually it was the second most fatal job. Trains are pretty one sided. Surviving being struck by a train is less likely than surviving cutting your thumb. Happily for me, in my entire railway career I’ve never been directly involved with a “death on the line”, but I have had a few near misses. Some because of the shit attitude of management, some because of my own, and other workers’, bad working practices. Union activity has made a difference...

Trackwork in winter and summer

Besides cold, snow is another demon in railway track work. Either it’s really fine stuff that gets in everywhere despite your wet weather gear, or the big wet flakes that hit you in the eye and cause you to swear you’ll find a nice cosy inside job. Often when you set off it all looks pretty easy with a fine, crisp, sunny morning and the work all lined up. But as you arrive, the clouds start to build and before you know it, the first flakes start to drift down and you realise just how far it is back to the depot. Also, it’s not just getting back to the depot. Most people, when I started on the...

Wind-chill out on the track

As always with this country, the weather is at the front of most people’s chit-chat. When you work outside then it becomes a way of life. Even before your tea has hit the back of your throat, it’s “what’s the weather for today, then?”, especially in winter. The temperature may be a balmy 8 or 9 degrees in the city, but on top of an embankment with the wind rushing over flat fields or open water, you soon get very sharp meaning for the phrase “wind chill”. Some days you have literally taken two steps outside the van or cabin, and any residual warmth you’ve had disappears tout sweet. I and...

The magpie and the beeps

Almost 50% of the Tube is actually above ground. Only the Victoria and Waterloo and City lines have no time spent out in the open. That means on many journeys you can get a good idea, particularly in the spring and summer, of how the local wildlife interact with the railway. While it is nice to see young fox cubs try to catch butterflies or sleep in the sun on the embankments, the most interesting animal is probably one of the UK’s least loved: the magpie. At a terminus station as your doors open pigeons and magpies will often hop on to look for scrap food and rubbish left by the passengers...

Trackworkers back in the day

The railway industry when I joined decades ago was an “institution”, full of odd bods. One of the people I worked with in my first days sang Barry Manilow songs all day long. He had a decent voice, though his choice of singers was not to anybody else’s taste. He made a second income singing in local workingmen’s clubs. He actually did look a bit like Barry Manilow. Another was very clumsy, always catching people with tools or odd bits of his body. His favourite was lurking round a corner and then when he heard someone coming, walking round the corner into them. Then he would try to put the...

Diary of a trackworker: First bout of management double-speak

Matt Shaw is soon retiring as a trackworker, and will be writing some “diary” columns of reminiscences. I had never really thought about an outdoors job. I’d been in store or warehouse work since leaving school at 17. Now aged 21 and having problems with the people I worked with, I saw an advert for rail men. This was a time when the possibility of women on the track side was not even thought of. Specifically the ad promised a technical side to the job, which appealed to me. At the interview the talk was of relays and track circuits and all that sort of thing. Obviously I would have to do...

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