The confrontation between the government and state employees allows all kinds of clichés to return to the surface of public debate: the unions control everything, public administration is necessarily inefficient, we add layers of bureaucracy without ever realizing it. remove, etc.
To start the Christmas holidays on a positive note, I will therefore have a counter-discourse here. I will pay tribute to a group who are not on strike, but who are particularly victims of these prejudices: blue-collar workers.
Ouch! I hear you scream!
Are you going to tell me about the time you saw five blue-collar workers around a hole watching a sixth work?
Instead, let me tell you some other stories.
The blue trucks
A Public Works crew’s truck is something of a kingdom. The blues spend a good part of their days there, and the internal organization of the truck is traditionally the responsibility of the team that uses it.
A few years ago, the Public Works Department of the City of Gatineau undertook a complete reorganization of the truck fleet. Among bosses and employees alike, there were many skeptics about the ability to change entrenched habits.
The exercise was necessary, in particular because the work of the blueprints is becoming more complex. The tools change, the parts to be replaced are no longer the same, certain specialties now require portable computers and the truck must adapt. Several people even thought that we should move to larger truck models. Let’s also say it, certain “kingdoms” needed a major cleaning. Why carry several similar parts or even three or four adjustable wrenches of the same size when just one will do the trick?
Finally, the lack of uniformity in the organization of the trucks hampered productivity: someone who changed trucks had difficulty finding their way. It was time to review all of this.
The union was involved in the exercise from the beginning, and employees participated at every stage of the process: the skeptics were confounded. Thinking about new needs, about the equipment that absolutely had to be in the truck, about that which could remain in the workshops, about the physical organization of everything, everything was done as a team.
The welders and electricians themselves redid the entire interior structure of the truck, the work tables, the wall panels, reviewed all the electrical installations, etc. Almost everything was homemade.
Result ? The trucks have been modernized, they are the same size as before, they now contain just the necessary equipment, they are less heavy, use less gasoline and, because the spaces are uniform from truck to truck , work is more efficient there.
However, the main outcome of the project was pride. Men and women who previously left the second their shift ended were now choosing to stay a little longer to put everything back together before leaving, just to start the next day in a spotless truck.
The staff did the same exercise with the municipal workshops. After the reorganization, we had sold old equipment, reduced inventory, recycled metal, gained space and, once again, generated pride. Blue-collar workers like a job well done.
Of the inventors
Blue-collar workers also sometimes turn into inventors. During the 2017 floods, they invented a method to fill several sandbags at once, using orange cones as a funnel. This year, at the very last minute, they were able to replace an electric valve on a fire engine with a manual valve of their invention, allowing an outdoor show to take place safely.
A little last one. Sewer plates (covers)1 are very heavy, they can weigh more than 50 kg. They are difficult to handle and can easily cause injury.
With the support of their bosses, two foremen and a welder-mechanic from Gatineau invented a magnetic assisted lifting system2. The mechanism allows sewer covers to be removed and replaced using an electric winch without having to move the truck. The use of physical force has been eliminated. The invention was made completely in-house, the device was certified by an independent engineering firm, and the technology was offered free to other cities.
What about blue-collar workers around a hole?
If you see scenes like this, take a photo, note the time and location, and send it to your local elected official. If there is something to correct, the City will do it, because municipal teams appreciate a job well done!
See you in 2024, happy holidays!
1. Manhole “covers”, generally circular in thick cast iron, are used to close sewer “manholes”, compartments through which one has access to the sewers for scrubbing them.