Amid a prolonged pandemic, laid-off workers took stock and reassessed their priorities
Restaurants, airlines, schools and nursing homes are at the sharp end of a labour crunch that’s afflicted employers all year long. In June,the unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.9 per cent, tightening the screws on an economy with more positions than it could fill.
Or hopes to. The 39-year-old union official and former flight attendant opted to run for municipal council in Hamilton this fall after a trying two years in an industry battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s an even more personal fire fuelling her run for office too. In March 2020, Marchand found herself snowed under with calls from fellow flight attendants as angst and uncertainty swirled around a novel coronavirus.
After tracking him down and helping him move in with their mother in New Brunswick, Marchand opted to access counselling and cognitive therapy services as well as a union support network, “which has helped me tremendously.” “Long-term care was a very sad environment for me because I was unable to provide the care that a lot of residents needed,” the 29-year-old says. “Even though I still showed up for those 16-hour shifts, I became numb.”
Despite feelings of shame and guilt, Couture closed her company in January to avoid burning out again. She continued to provide private care for one last client until May. "I've been working since I'm 14 ... either as a soccer referee, or babysitter, I've always loved to work," says Raymond, a 33-year-old former physical education teacher.
The pandemic, he says, was an additional strain as it greatly limited how he could share his passion for sports. Raymond, who now works as a sales consultant for Park Avenue Volkswagen in Brossard, Que., says leaving the education system not only helped with his finances, but also his mental health. "It was around that point that I was emotionally finished serving. But I wasn't able to leave, however, until the pandemic actually forced me out of the industry."
"I feel that we are at a pivotal moment where either we can slide back into the slot we have always occupied in this industry or we can move forward and make some actual changes that give more power to workers and create living wages and create better work environments."
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