Mike Pitzer is a senior project manager.
I suspect that when the District, Maryland and Virginia included the construction industry among “essential businesses” exempt from stay-at-home orders, every contractor, building supply company and trade union leader who can work from home, or at least in tightly controlled offices, was thrilled. I understand everyone wants to work; no one wants to shut down their business.
But I work on a construction job site with 150 to 200 others in an environment that is impossible to protect from the coronavirus. Our “essential” work is constructing a new apartment building — not a bridge, not a road, not a hospital, but new, non-subsidized apartments.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I am a senior project manager, and it’s not just a job but a career. I work hard, and I think I’m good at what I do.
But I don’t want to die for it, or, even worse, bring the illness home to my family.
So, I will stay home tomorrow while most of the people I work with will be on the job. Most of the workers on our job site are employed by contractors, whose crews include carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, electricians, etc., and their helpers. Some of these subcontractor workers will have commuted in vans with seven or eight others. Think about that environment. Others might have taken public transportation.
Each contractor is responsible for supplying its workers with proper protective equipment such as masks. They try. But not everyone wears the masks.
Necessities such as hand sanitizer quickly run out, sometimes two hours after the dispensers are filled. And while portable toilets are being cleaned more often, it’s still less than once a day.
Construction work typically requires that people work in small teams or in pairs. You’ve seen what people do outside at construction sites. Inside, they are closer together. Three to five people may be working inside a single apartment at one time, two guys hanging drywall, others hanging cabinetry or installing plumbing fixtures.
We have all seen how difficult it is to avoid this kind of proximity in grocery stores. But we know they are essential businesses.
Why is it “essential” that we continue to build apartments, hotels, houses or shopping centers? Construction lobbyists such as the District of Columbia Building Industry Association, along with officials in the District, Maryland and Virginia, think we should. But their economic goals shouldn’t come at the expense of our health or that of our families during a global pandemic. Why aren’t we following the lead of other states that have been hit the hardest, such as New Jersey and New York? New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) closed down nonessential construction sites, which covers residential and typical commercial construction.
Because the contractors continue to work, the subcontractors must work, too. If they didn’t, not only would they lose the revenue, but they also would probably damage important relationships with the bigger contractors who hired them. They also could be at risk for monetary penalties if they don’t complete work by the schedule agreed upon in the contract. And their workers risk being fired if they don’t show up.
I am not a quitter, and I am not afraid of danger at construction job sites. I have chased after thieves, had people threaten to shoot me and had people wave a gun at me, but the dangerous coronavirus is an enemy I can’t see or defend myself against.
The only way to beat the coronavirus is for everyone to adhere to the stay-at-home orders. I don’t want to lose my job, but I feel the category of “essential” personnel is far too broad.
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