It’s about 2:30 p.m. when Bobby Lehal arrives at the longshoreman’s dispatch hall hidden behind the Waldorf Hotel in Vancouver’s east side.
A smattering of casual workers — non-union members who are picked last for work — swipe their ID cards at a computer terminal inside the non-descript building to “plug in” and see if they can pick up an assignment at 3 p.m.
Lehal’s name pops up on the ‘C’ board, one of the monitors listing where exactly the casuals rank in terms of job assignments.
The most senior casuals appear on the ‘A’ board, while new workers start on the ‘R’ board.
“You really have to look at the vessel forecast, see how many union members are going to show up, how many jobs there. You’ve got to juggle it in your head, then make the decision, ‘Maybe I should go in today. I’m going to get a job,’” Lehal said.
“It’s a game.”
It’s been eight years since the 39-year-old Surrey man left his job as a mental health worker to be on the waterfront.
He’s been trained to do everything from operate a bulldozer to drive a tractor-trailer, but the father of two is still considered new.
He said the income is comparable to his old job, but the hours are much more flexible. Instead of plugging in a few weeks back, he chaperoned his seven-year-old son’s class field trip.
In two or three years, Lehal is expected to rack up enough hours to become a sworn member of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
By then, he’ll get to make his way to the other side of the dispatch hall where union members pick up jobs operating cranes, front-end loaders, or any of the other 42 skill sets they may have been trained in.
There are about 1,100 union members and about the same number of casuals. A corridor and office space at the hall divides the two groups as they pick up shifts.
Instead of plugging in through a computer, the union members like to keep things traditional by dropping cards into slots to let employers know they’re ready to work.
The B.C. Maritime Employers Association manages the systems that distribute shifts at the province’s only employer-run dispatch hall.
The fact it’s spelled Despatch Centre on the building’s exterior — a throwback to the city’s British maritime heritage — is a minor bone of contention between the employers and the union. The ILWU prefers ‘despatch.’
Otherwise, the atmosphere is easy going by 2:55 p.m., when both sides of the hall fill up with more than 100 workers looking for work.
By the time 3 p.m. rolls around, Lehal has won this round of the game and secured a shift. He doesn’t have to be on site until 4:30 p.m., so he’ll spend the next hour or so chatting with friends.
“Everyday when I started working here, more and more I hated that place that I used to work at,” he said.
“This is kind of home.”
