Shyler Hendrickson

Shyler Hendrickson: Reflection on Dennis Kearns' Life

The world has changed. The workplace has transformed, and with it, so to the worker. The twenty-first century has seen the rapid disappearance of the traditional industrial workplace. New innovations and technologies, bureaucratization, and higher levels of education among the population have intersected with revised safety standards and the decline of the union movement to create a culture that reflects our current society.^[1] What does this mean for the old guard, however? There are many who recall a simpler time where work was honest and easy to come by for those who were not afraid of long hours in labor-intensive positions. Dennis Kearns is one such Individual. Born in 1949, Dennis’ childhood was unstable. His father was a construction worker, and his family changed homes frequently, disallowing for Dennis to establish himself within any one community until later in life. Excelling academically was made difficult by the fact that he frequently moved, and Dennis ultimately dropped out of school in the ninth grade. Now, in 2019, dropping out of school before achieving a high school degree is for many people unthinkable, but at the time, academic certifications were valued differently than they are in the twenty-first century.

As time goes on, and the general population becomes more and more educated, job prospects for individuals who have not pursued some form of post-secondary education, whether it be in the trades, or at the academic level, drop off steeply, as the employment rate drops down to approximately 60%. The likelihood of finding gainful employment above minimum wage without even a high-school diploma is even more abysmal. According to Essential Skills Ontario: “Individuals without a high school diploma are now twice as likely to be unemployed as they were twenty years ago, downtime between jobs is greater, the hours worked are fewer and the probability of needing government income support is significantly higher.”^[2] Certainly, it is a virtual impossibility in this day and age to establish a career for oneself, one that provides opportunities for advancement, without having achieved that which our society has set as the minimum acceptable standards for education and training. In the fifties, however, Dennis’ choice did not bar him from getting ahead in society.

By his late teens, Dennis, with the aid of his father, had achieved a position working as a member of a survey crew. To anyone born after 1990, this would seem incredulous, but at the time, Dennis demonstrated certain traits which were more important to employers, than the academic certifications he lacked. “The survey crew my dad got me involved with, uh, it was like an on-site interview. ‘Okay, you’re hired.’” Dennis recalls that the site supervisor merely asked if he had the ability to do basic mathematics, which Dennis did, before putting him to work at the site. Now, while Dennis’ recollection of this event may exclude some other important details about this exchange, the point that comes across is that the employer was able to glean everything he wanted to know about Dennis’ suitability for the job, from one meeting. What was important for him, was that Dennis was willing, available to work long hours, and physically fit. Evidently, the understanding at that time was that any and all of the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to do the job, would be learned on site. A process Dennis was happy to participate in: “On the job is the best way you can learn, I believe. As long as you’ve got good people to work with.”

Dennis spent a decade working with the Survey crew before moving into Cement Masonry, which ultimately became his career. A position he speaks fondly of. There is obvious pride in his recollection, having been a member of the crew who constructed the T. D. Canada Trust buildings in Toronto, a structure visible along the Toronto skyline to thousands of people. Dennis spent thirty-three years working in this position before being asked to step down after a severe back and leg injury, although it is likely that he would have kept working the job well into his sixties otherwise. What Dennis’ experience provides us, is some insight into what it is like to be an older worker in an industrial field. Before the twenty-first century, jobs tended to be more attractive to older workers. Seniority and experience were valued, the routes of upward mobility were clearly defined, and corporations promoted from within.^[3] One of the positions Dennis held following his career in Masonry, was in the field of Apartment Balcony repair. His experience in working concrete translated well to the work, and he did very well for himself. In spite of his advanced age and ailment, his superiors rewarded his contributions: “Yeah but uh, I ended up, they took me into the office and made me supervisor, estimator uh <...> Employee hire… Well, it was pretty good for a grade nine drop out, y’know?”. Dennis’ success was the result of a philosophy that has all but vanished in the 21^st century. Perhaps more importantly, however, It allowed Dennis to maintain a sense of purpose after his accident.

Work is often closely connected with an individuals sense of worth. Dr. Caitrin Lynch examined this relationship between work, and advanced age, in long-established industries and corporations. After extensive interviewing and observation, Dr. Lynch determined that the ability of mature citizens, those well past standard retirement age, to work was responsible for their mental, and by extension physical well-being.^[4] That is to say, they typically didn’t view themselves as “old people” drawing a distinction between themselves and people of similar age, who were living in retirement communities. By feeling as though they still had the ability to contribute to society, they were able to maintain a level of activeness and functionality that is becoming less common at their age. This was the case with Dennis, following his accident, he was still driven to work because this is what had defined his life.

Dennis was part of a demographic that began growing in the nineties and is rapidly growing today. With growing insecurity in the labor markets of the world, changes are being made to the careers and retirement schedules of old workers.^[5] Modern medicine has also allowed many individuals to work longer, and enjoy good health while doing so. To put it plainly, the transfer into retirement is no longer age-dependent but rather relies upon one’s individual assets and income. Eventually, Dennis’ body began to falter after the decades of intensive labor, which required him to move on and begin working for Ontario Hydro, first reading gas meters, and then, after further problems with his back, handing out letters notifying individuals that they were overdue on their payments. Slowly, but surely, Dennis found himself moving farther away from the difficult and physically demanding work that defined him until eventually, he found himself driving a cab in Guelph. This did not last very long, however, as Dennis was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2015, and moved into Norfolk manor the next year.

Dennis was resigned to live in the Manor, yet it was clear from his narration that he was now, as Dr. Lynch would put it, “outside looking in."^[6] That is to say that he no longer viewed himself as an involved member of society without his ability to work. Lynch illustrates the profound difference that works makes by using the analogy of an inner and outer ring. Within the inner ring, employment, individuals find friends, care, purpose, belonging, and fulfillment, while once they have transitioned to the outer ring, they find stigma, illness, loneliness, disability, and abandonment. This has been Dennis’ experience as well: “They uh, had me uh, key-holed for Mount Forest. ‘I don’t want to go to Mount Forest! I don’t know anything about that town.’ I don’t even know where it is. <laughs> I said people don’t visit me here, why would they come to Mount Forest.” Dennis takes the time to reflect on past relationships that he no longer maintains. Estranged from his children, and with little to no family remaining, without work, it would be difficult for Dennis to maintain his health. Fortunately, Dennis is an accomplished artist and spends some of his time painting.

We don’t often look inwardly at ourselves and ask what defines us. Our jobs, our relationships, the areas of our lives in which we triumph, give us the building blocks from which we construct our lives. It is an acutely felt loss when we are no longer able to engage in these things. Dennis was an industrious individual, who took pride in the fruits of his labors, and the things he did by his own power. Robbed of the ability to continue working by old age, and illness, time now has a more palpable effect on him. Dennis’ story serves as a reminder of how the world has changed for the blue-collar worker, and how individuals like Dennis, Individuals who defined themselves by the strength of their backs alone, are becoming harder to find in a world ever more focused on certification, rather than merit.

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For more of Shyler's work, click here for his interview with Norfolk Manor resident, Ann Hersey.