At 7:30 pm each night, many Torontonians step out onto balconies, porches and lawns to make noise and thank the frontline workers who getting the city through the coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 crisis has sharpened our focus on work that we consider “essential” – the nature of that work, how the pandemic has changed it, how that work is compensated and the job conditions under which it takes place. These workers stock shelves in supermarkets, offer support in shelters, care for patients in emergency rooms, clean intensive care units, cook meals in food banks, among other jobs, to keep us safe and healthy.
The pandemic should prompt deeper political conversations around how we value our frontline workers now and in the future. We spoke to eight people who have not stopped working since COVID-19 sent Toronto into lock-down mode to find out how the crisis has intensified the highs and lows of their jobs.
- Subarna Thirugnanam and Carmela Yambao, lead ICU physician and environmental services attendant at Markham Stouffville Hospital
- Rechev Browne, grocery store clerk at No Frills
- Paul Koblic and Yashi Yathindra, emergency doctors at at North York General and Mount Sinai (also husband and wife)
- Greg Cook, outreach worker at Sanctuary Toronto
- Tessa White, chef and kitchen coordinator at PARC
- Kyle Johansen, operations superintendent for Peel Regional Paramedic Services