To the Editor,
Re: City employees are the lucky ones, Letters, Feb. 9.
My husband works for the City of Nanaimo and we are extremely grateful for this job.
Before he was blessed to get this job, more than 20 years ago now, we were a struggling young family. We had five young children and minimal income. My husband worked any job he could get. On occasion he would work two jobs just to make ends meet.
Our children were born during the ‘recession’ time of the 80s. During that time we were on unemployment insurance and then welfare. My husband would walk from our modest rented home on Hammond Bay Road all the way to downtown Nanaimo where the employment office was then located.
During one season of our life, he worked at Woodgrove Centre as a maintenance man for $7 an hour. It was during this time he was blessed with a part-time position with the city as janitor at the city annex.
That meant he would work at Woodgrove from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m., come home, grab a quick bite to eat, say hi to his children and then go to work at the annex from 4 p.m. to midnight. He would then get up and repeat it the next day.
Over the years with the city he went from part time to full time, promoted to janitorial at all the public washrooms at the swimming sites. During this time he got mononucleosis, yet continued to go to work every day with a fever and extremely exhausted. He could have taken sick days but was so grateful for this job that he worked through it.
He then went on to the sanitation department and now has taken a pay demotion to work city patrol because he does not want to transfer out of the department he loves so much. He is fortunate enough that on occasion he gets to fill in for the foreman when he is on holidays.
My husband loves his job and is extremely grateful for how it has provided for his family and knows it comes from people like Mark Jeffs, the taxpayer.
So, Mr. Jeffs, thank you.
Marie Leclerc
Nanaimo