He was almost the first employee in the 1950s. It was common for workers to show up at the Union Halls looking for employment. This was a daily activity with a dispatcher taking requests and picking the most qualified to fill the order.
Phil was dispatched along with Tommy Paul to Union Concrete at an apartment complex in the Kinsington and Eggert area. Phil tried to reject the order, wanting an inside job out of the weather, but the dispatcher stood his ground and sent Phil out.
Upon gaining access to the site, Phil and Tommy searched for the UCC shanty to no avail. While searching, they found a guy in an excavation setting planks in what Phil described as “2 foot of water and ice”. When asked where the Union Concrete office was, the guy responded, “Down here! Welcome to Union Concrete.”
Realizing what he was in store for, Phil promptly told the guy (George) to “kiss off”. He was not working for the likes of him. When he tried to get Tommy to bail with him, Tommy simply answered “I need the job”.
Phil went home for the day and showed up at the Union Hall the next morning. When the Dispatcher saw him, Phil was told if he didn’t go back to the job he was dispatched to, he may as well find another Trade.
Seems like the “stockholders” in Union Concrete had a little pull at the Hall.
Tommy’s history with UCC was just a few years, but Phil managed to hang around for some 40 years. We might have a few more stories told by Phil…
Continued next week…
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