National Day of Mourning

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It was very early on an early August morning in 1995. The shopping mall had been closed many hours before and was quiet and dark, except for the roving security guards and the two repair crews working on a pair of escalators.

The three man repair crew had completed their eight to five regular shift, had a few hours of rest, then began the work after the mall had closed for business for the day. This activity was not uncommon for the repair crews, as major repair work on escalators was routinely done after hours.

Everything had progressed smoothly up until that point, when suddenly, one tiny mistake, or slip, or mechanical failure occurred and a 41 year old man was dead. One tiny second of inattention or fatigue, and a mother lost her son.

The brothers and sisters of the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 130, are a tight nit community. They are not many in number and most know each other. The affect on this community of people was devastating. Never before had they lost one of their own.

Not only had I worked with Keven over many years, but we were the same age. Our fathers had worked together in the same trade. We grew up together, fought together, sometimes with each other, hunted and fished together. I considered him to be one of my best friends. To his friends, he was generous to a fault. At times, I still miss him dearly even now 21 years later.

Millions of people around the world, each and every day, rely on us so that they can go to work and return home safe and in one piece, utilizing the most used public transportation system in the world. Elevators and escalators. We are the highly trained and skilled tradesman who install, repair and maintain this highly complex machinery. There are not many of us.

Unless you have experienced the inconvenience of being trapped in an elevator or had to walk up a few flights of stairs while repairs are being conducted, you will never notice us. Well, perhaps you have had the misfortune of sitting near us while we are celebrating the end of another week whole and unhurt. We tend to overdo it at times.

The work is hard and at times very dangerous. It takes a special kind of person to dangle themselves 40 stories in the air, guide and with extreme precision, install a 16 foot long 150 pound guide rail, suspended by a 1/4 inch steel cable into place. Or to install five hundred feet of 1/2 inch cable knowing that any time, it could break loose taking you, or a piece of you, with it, as it plummets 400 or more feet to the ground.

In the movies and on television, we see the heroic Fire and Rescue teams using all the latest and fanciest rescue systems to retrieve passengers from broken elevators. The reality is very different.

You are in bed, sound asleep. Your phone rings, several revellers are trapped in an elevator on the eighteenth floor of a hotel. You battle your way in the dark night during a blizzard to the hotel. Police cars, ambulances and fire trucks are parked blocking every easy entry to the building. You grab your 30 pound tool box and trudge through the snow and ice of the parking lot and run the gauntlet of policemen, firemen and upset hotel staff, all demanding instant action.

You gain access to the top of the elevator next to the one broken and slowly drive it up to where the broken elevator is. your only illumination, a single 60 watt light bulb that generally only provides limited visibility. Once you reach where the stricken elevator is, now you have to make a calculated risk. You know that elevators have many safety features and that you are most likely safe, but they are still machines, things sometimes happen. You gingerly make your way across the gap between both elevator cars, it’s a long way down, and slide quickly down the guide rail to the top of the other elevator. The thump of your now, wet from melting snow boots, on the top of the elevator cab startles a passenger and you yell down to them who you are. All this is being done in the extremely limited light being provided from the top of the other elevator.

Turning the light of this elevator on, you discover that the only way to get these people out safely will be using the escape hatch in the roof. Luckily, the top of that elevator is at the floor level of the next floor. You open that door to be confronted by more firemen and hotel staff. You send one fireman to retrieve a ladder from their truck and the others protect the now open and empty doorway, while you remove the escape hatch. The ladder arrives and you place it inside the elevator and one by one the four trapped passengers climb up the ladder. Now the fire rescue people take over, once the passengers are safely on the floor.

After, returning the ladder, you reinstall the escape hatch, close the hall door, climbing back up the rail and over to the first elevator and ride it up to the top floor and exit, putting that elevator back in service. Then lugging your tool box, you make your way to the roof, put your head down and trudge through the blowing snow to the mechanical room and repair the minor electrical problem that caused the problem. By the time you get back to the hotel lobby, everyone but the front desk staff are gone and those people let you know in no uncertain terms how upset they are about the inconvenience.

Now comes the harrowing drive back home and the hope of a few hours sleep, before your regular work day begins.

Very rarely are we recognized for our efforts, in fact, it is usually the opposite. In the incident mentioned above, I was required by my employer to apologize to everyone concerned for taking almost an hour to get the people out of the elevator. That, despite the fact that from the time I received the telephone call, drove to the building and the people were out of the elevator in a half hour. Meanwhile, all the people with all the fancy rescue tools, training and the flashing lights that allow them to run red lights, were standing around waiting for me.

The job we do is extremely hazardous and the easiest result of an incident for us would be to be killed. Yes we are well trained and extremely well paid. We also pay a high cost. Lost time from family and friends, a high divorce rate. Many of us self medicate, but never on the job. Every year some of us lose our lives, two already in North America this year, or are horribly disfigured or disabled.

So the next time you happen to have the misfortune of being seated near us when we are celebrating, remember. Because of us, your families get to see you each and every night. You go to work or shopping each day, taking for granted the sacrifices my brothers and sisters make for you each and every day.