by Richard K Munro

Who is MUCH more likely to die on the job? A woman? Or a man?

FACT: 93% of workplace deaths are to men. Why?

Because men take the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs and work the longest hours to make as much money as they can while they can. I know because it was what I did. I could have been in those workplace death certificates. I did some dirty and dangerous jobs.

They say your 20s are the best time of your life but for me, there were years of frustration and suffering and separation from loved ones. But I just stoically carried on. Getting your first full-time job is sometimes very difficult. People are surprised but I would say in my early life I was turned down for every job I applied for. I was too qualified or not qualified enough. It was humiliating and a chastening experience. So I left home and went West. I told my mother I would keep going until I got a full-time job and if I had to go to Alaska or Australia, I would do that. I ended up in Washington State and later California. But by following the economic magnet and moving where there were SOME job openings I got work and for over forty years I always worked. It was hard to leave home (essentially never returned) but working felt a lot better.

After I left the service I had very little money (a few thousand dollars) and an old Chrysler (free and clear). I worked in construction for five years. I started by unloading rail cars $6 an hour I recall (then stacking over 1000 bags of Owens-Corning fiberglass insulation); then I dug trenches under a place called Yesler Terrace with an e-tool.

The first day my partner and I got ZERO PAY. That’s right ZERO pay.

We were paid by the square foot of insulation installed.

But we worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday and finished the job (a job no one else wanted). Monday morning at 5AM we got another job.

And we gained the respect of the foreman (a tough ex-Marine) because we did not complain. We knew the job had to be done and we knew the terms of the contract.

We also knew it was no good to complain; to get more work you had to finish the job you were on satisfactorily. Even the guy I was with was surprised but I told him hauling loads and digging in the dirt was nothing new to me. In fact, the quiet of the Yesler Terrace underfloor was almost soothing compared to the noise and explosions of Marine Corps maneuvers.

We crawled into a little entrance with a long series of extension cords and a light. The kid I was with said to me, “what if there is an earthquake?”

And I told him, “Kid, if there is an earthquake we are dead and they will never find our bodies. But you can’t live forever. Let’s dig and get out of here as soon as possible. We can do this job if we work 10 hours a day.”

We finished Sunday evening about 6PM. We spent most of three days in the semi-darkness digging and then stocking (with tubes of insulation -Certainteed was the only thing we could fit in the trench) then installing the batts. It was a huge job. I think we made about $2 an hour. Piece work in construction or farm labor is the low end of the job market.

Above us were lounging welfare families. The kid asked me what I thought of them and I said,

“I feel sorry for them; they don’t know the pride and dignity of work. Anyone can run away. Anyone can be AWOL but its the man who stays and does the job who can be proud. If you work you get ahead; if you sweat you get; things at rest remain at rest. If you stay here with them you will be miserable and ashamed your whole life. Kid, get a job do a job. Be reliable and on time. Get what education you can and finish whatever level you start. High school, Certificate programs. Don’t have any kids until you are married and when you are married stay married. You may not get rich but you will never be poor if you are lucky enough to stay healthy. Quien joven no trabaja viejo duerme sobre paja……work when you are young so you are not homeless when you are old.”

I never got rich but I have a roof over my head, money in the bank and money coming in.

And it all started because I wasn’t afraid of dirty and dangerous jobs. I had a family to support and it was what I had to do. I still have the scars from those years. But later on, I really appreciated paid vacations, benefits and a regular hourly wage.