Viktoriia Kikot – assistant driver of an electric train at the Fastiv motor-car depot of the ‘Suburban Passenger Company’ branch, who inspires with her passion for her favourite profession, stubbornness on the way to the goal and thirst for new knowledge.
– You’ve probably heard this question hundreds of times: why did you choose the traditionally male profession of driver’s assistant?
– Around the age of 17, I became fascinated with everything related to the railway, especially with electric rolling stock. So I entered a railway college. At first, I was trained as a ticket and baggage cashier. However, at college I realised that I only wanted to be an assistant train driver. Unfortunately, girls were not accepted for this speciality. I applied to various institutions, and only the Kyiv Electromechanical Vocational College told me that they had no right to refuse me an educational service, although they did not guarantee employment. There, I received the speciality of an electromechanical technician for the maintenance, repair and operation of traction rolling stock and two additional certificates – a rolling stock repairman and an assistant electric train driver. I am very grateful to the teachers at the college. They saw my love for electric trains and my speciality and did not let me give up, even when it was very difficult. They invested a lot of knowledge, support, and confidence in me. This proved to be very useful later, both at the exams and at work. When I was hired, they were much more attentive to my knowledge, and they talked to me for much longer than with most of the boys. During the exam, they went through all the questions.
– And how were you greeted at the workplace?
– I was doing my train practice at the depot and immediately told them that I was going to work here. Many people, especially the management, were sceptical. They did not believe that I would work for even a year. But I knew where I was going, the working conditions, the salary, the condition of the rolling stock. There were no pink glasses, so there were no disappointments. I have been working for four years now, on different routes, with different drivers.
– How do passengers perceive you? It’s probably not always safe for a woman to walk around on a suburban train, is it?
– Passengers can really be different. Assistants, drivers, and cashiers know that some companies should be avoided. The bigger issue here is the availability of lighting on the platforms and the presence of militarised security guards. If they approached the train at every stop, it would be calmer. But it also happens that passengers are too vigilant. Now on regular routes, they are used to me, but at the beginning there were cases when they did not allow me to work and called the driver when they saw me opening a closet.
– For a long time, the profession of ‘ train driver’s assistant’ was closed to women.
– Yes, it was on the list of jobs where women were prohibited from working due to difficult and harmful conditions. But these conditions are just as harmful for men. It’s not the way to close some opportunities for women. We need to make working conditions safer for everyone.
– Do women need any special working conditions?
– The same as men. Clean showers with warm water, clean linen in the rest rooms. Separate showers instead of dividing walls. Because neither women nor men take showers in groups.
– But perhaps there is something in the profession of ‘train driver’s assistant’ that women cannot cope with?
– – A woman can create a human being. I can’t imagine how she can fail to cope with anything after that. Nowadays, many professions have a shortage of workers. And the position of ‘driver’s assistant’ is in short supply. That’s why we need to attract more women and young people to the railway, and advertise railway professions. I had an idea to create an educational series for ‘Diia.Osvita’ about railway professions, but it was very expensive, so I was not supported. But we need to understand the challenges faced by the railway during the war. Now I want to get an electric locomotive driver’s licence, although I really like electric trains. I just want to know that I will be able to be useful there if needed.
– Perhaps the next step is to become a train driver?
– Nowadays, assistants are not easily promoted to drivers, there is a shortage of people. And in general, an assistant has to gain experience and work for about ten years before he can study to become a driver. But I’m thinking about continuing my high education and getting a master’s degree.
– Will you switch to an office job?
– I tried it. But office job is not for me. I need movement, speed, the sound of an electric train, sunrises in the cabin.
Interview prepared by the Information Department of the Trade Union Council
Photo from Ukrainian Railways
