Richard Defreitas: ‘We want to just get the work done, get off the streets and get back home as quickly as possible’

KEY workers have told the Tribune of the challenges they face as they keep going amid the coronavirus crisis.

The lockdown has sparked a debate over critical occupations, and how so many of them are lowly paid.

Matthew Scannell, 44, has been a porter at the Whittington Hospital in Archway for 16 years.

He said: “Working for the NHS is quite a challenging job at the best of times, but when corona came around it became very worrying. A lot of porters are scared. But we have a sort of grit to just get on with work and just do it. A lot of us have worked here for a long time so we support each other.

“Some days are more challenging than others though. There was a day last week that was just really traumatic. There was a lot of staff in tears, nurses, doctors, porters, house-keeping. It can be quite challenging but we get through it together.”

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Mr Scannell added: “Without going in to too much detail, I saw quite a lot and it was heart-breaking. When we first learned about the outbreak we all thought it might not be that bad, but when it hit the hospital it took us all by surprise really.

“We were shocked by the things we saw coming through the door.”

Beyond pay – and the rate of statutory sick pay – an ongoing debate has been how protected people still at work are as the coronavirus spreads.

Mr Scannell said: “A lot of my colleagues are unable to work due to isolation or having underlying health issues, so we are quite stretched so we all have to muck in and help out each other where we can.”

The father-of-two added: “I’ve got a young family at home and it is quite hard to leave them every day and think that I might pick up this disease and bring it home, but we all have routines we do. We change before we go out. I jump in the shower straight away. It’s not easy leaving your home every day and coming to the frontline not knowing what the day will bring.”

Whittington porter Matthew Scannell

Streets across the borough have been filled with clapping every Thursday for the past three weeks with members of the public showing their appreciation for frontline workers.

Hundreds of boxes of food and goods have also been donated to the Whittington for staff.

“We can really feel the appreciation from the local community here, no matter what role we do,” Mr Scannell said.

“Before this virus I think the portering and housekeeping departments did not tend to be the most praised but I think we are feeling it now. More so than we ever have done.”

On the streets, refuse collectors are also keeping the system going.

Richard Defreitas, who picks up recycling for the council, said teams wanted to get the job done as soon as possible in order to feel safe.

“We want to just get the work done, get off the streets and get back home as quickly as possible where we are safe but we are also careful with what we are touching,” Mr Defreitas said.

Islington Council has asked that members of the public try to keep their waste as clean as possible with any tissues or dirty items sealed in order to protect refuse collectors who might come into contact with it.

Mr Defreitas, who lives on Hornsey Road, added: “Yesterday we had a letter attached to one of the bins. It said ‘keep the smile you come every week with and thank you very much for your hard work’. It looked like children who wrote it, it was all colourful.

“We also see people in early mornings as we come to bins in a block of flats. They will come to their windows and say thank you very much for your hard work.”

He added: “It is very nice and it makes you feel happy. The job we do, you don’t usually get that much appreciation. A lot of people just see you as binmen.

To have these kind words now, it feels nice. It leaves you with a big smile on your face.”

A carer, who works in the south of the borough spoke to the Tribune on condition of anonymity, said: “This outbreak has brought things to the surface that have always been there. It puts our job and its importance in so much perspective. It’s all much clearer to people now. I’ve never felt so much responsibility in my life, until this outbreak. I’ve never faced anything like this threat.”

She added: “Sometimes I come home and I just feel so burned out. Before the outbreak I’d want a holiday every six months or so, but now I feel like that every week. That’s the difference. It’s someone’s life you’re responsible for.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn told the Tribune: “We now realise who are the really important people in society.

“We have seen how important the hospital porters, the carers, the refuse workers, the supermarket shelf-stackers, the delivery drivers, the cleaners, and so many others are to our economy and society.

“Going forward, all those workers need so much more than our thanks.

“They need decent pay. And they also need our respect and to be treated with dignity by both employers and the government.”