Emanuel and his colleagues had petitioned their employer for occupational sick pay.
They pointed out that failing to guarantee workers a basic survival income if they fell ill would force potentially infectious people to leave home and endanger others.
But they were refused.
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This is Emanuel Gomes.
He was a cleaner at the Ministry of Justice, working for £9.08 an hour, which was just above the legal minimum.
He continued to come into work during the early days of the lockdown.
He died on 23 April 2020.
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The day before Emanuel arrived for his shift, he had felt worse than ever; so unwell, in fact, that he could barely stand.
“I took him home on public transport,” recalls Bio Fara, a fellow night shift cleaner. “When we got to Victoria station, he didn’t even know where he was.”
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“The cleaners believe they are putting themselves and others in serious, imminent and unavoidable danger,” managers were warned in an email sent at midday on 23 April, and seen by Tortoise.
No action was taken.
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Emanuel was pronounced dead by paramedics at 10.30pm, one month exactly after the prime minister first ordered people to stay at home for their own protection.
He was 43 years old.
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Many of Emanuel’s colleagues questioned why the people that he worked for were so casual about the risks he faced during the pandemic.
The answers should matter to all of us, because Emanuel Gomes worked for the British government.
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In July 2020,
@hackneylad
and
@geordiedav
told Emanuel’s story.
You can listen to it here:
And read
@hackneylad
’s accompanying article here:
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