TORONTO

Yorkdale has been taking heat for a ban on grubby construction workers at the elite shopping centre.

On the other hand, at least they didn’t sic TTC cops on the poor slobs.

In case you’ve been rivetted to the Battle of Union Station video all day, let me catch you up on this other workplace kerfuffle, the Mall Mauling.

Yorkdale, that suburban outpost of Fifth Avenue and Bloor Street, is in the midst of a $330-million makeover, and it swarms with gritty, grimy tradesmen.

Presumably they scare the hell out of all those mink-covered matrons headed for Burberry and Holt Renfrew.

Last week, a note from contractor EllisDon went up telling said slobs — I mean the workers, not the matrons — to stay out of the mall, especially the food court, during their shift.

“If workers are caught inside the mall they will be removed and dealt with accordingly.”

Wait! What? Exile to Walmart?!

Naturally, this gave Twitter a tweak. “Yorkdale is classist trash,” said one tweeter. “Elitist!” and “class warefare,” said others.

Among the kinder tweets was this from my friend Brian Baker, a freelancer: “As a journalist who’s had to work construction b/c full-time journalism doesn’t pay the bills, I’m a little pissed off w/ Yorkdale Mall.”

Frankly, though, it made perfect sense to me.

I’d rather not share a salad bar with a guy coated in drywall dust and industrial glue. The zucchini will taste funny.

And imagine the horror if a shopper gets home to Rosedale only to discover her Louis Vuitton handbag is smeared with roofing tar.

Listen, everybody loves construction workers, other than passing blondes and people who sleep past 7 a.m. They are the embodiment of down-to-earth.

But, jeez Louise, you can’t just let peons wander about willy-nilly?

Nor, for that matter, should mink-covered matrons be allowed to visit certain areas of the city. In my neighbourhood, the amusingly named Garden District east of Dundas Square, a Forest Hill toff is liable to scare the panhandlers and confuse the pigeons.

Down here, “Witty, confident, devastatingly feminine” is not a Chanel slogan. It’s a crossdressing hooker.

I wonder how happy Yorkdale would be about an invasion of those. Everyone in their place, as they used to say on Upstairs Downstairs.

I speak from personal experience as a peon. As a cub reporter for the Ottawa Journal, I showed up for a press conference at the Greek ambassador’s home in full hippy regalia — shaggy hair, shaggy beard, muddy sandals, head-to-toe denim, and a hangover.

The ambassador complained to the publisher and my career nearly ended right there. (Hey, I heard that. Very funny.)

Luckily, I worked out a deal with the city editor. I’d clean up my act, and he wouldn’t fire my shabby ass out the door.

I’m happy, and not surprised, to report that Yorkdale has also moved quickly to quell the outrage. You don’t attract the likes of Armani and Rolex by being slow, stupid and blind to bad PR.

What a nightmare: Legions of wives of well-paid tradesmen singing, “These muddy boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do ...”

Mall general manager Claire Santamaria tells me the ban notice came down within two hours. She insists the harsh wording was a misintepretation of a request to EllisDon to keep construction “contaminants” such as grease, tar, diesel and chemicals out of public eating areas.

She says the mall has now set up direct access to the food court for construction workers from an underground parking lot, so they can dust off or change before eating.

Even a little mud is OK, she says, as long as it doesn’t create a slip hazard.

Yorkdale is into its third construction project in as many years, says Santamaria, and “the trades are part of our fabric here.

“We’ve never asked anyone to leave the shopping centre because of muddy boots.”

I’m sure. As long as the boots are Gucci.

Strobel’s column usually runs Monday to Thursday. Hear him Tuesday and Thursday mornings on 94.9 The Rock FM.

mike.strobel@sunmedia.ca