A Coquitlam woman will be among a group of longshore workers who will be showing off their skills at the first BC Waterfront Games next month.
The games, which take place at Mitchell Island in Richmond on Sept. 13, will feature a variety of events that will showcase the various roles of dock workers as well as kids' activities, entertainment and plenty to eat from food trucks including Vij's, Roaming Dragon and Chili Tank.
Angela Talic, a Westwood Plateau resident, has been a longshoreperson for the past 17 years and will participate in the games as a tractor trailer operator - loading and unloading cargo and steering the 18-wheeler through a coned track. It's just one of the jobs she's had since she first joined the union at just 16 years old.
"My dad works down there and the original plan was for me to make money while going to school," Talic said. She paid for her own way through UBC but came back to being a longshoreperson.
Like all longshore workers, Talic started out as a labourer and over the years participated in the training opportunities that interested her.
Her first move up the ladder was learning to drive a 30-ton forklift and a tractor trailer, then she worked for several years as a first aid attendant. There was a stint as a "checker," directing cranes as they move cargo on and off ships, trains and trucks, ensuring cargo is loaded and unloaded in a specific sequence.
Talic, who is also a Girl Guide leader and was once a Girl Guide commissioner for the Eagle Mountain district, said it hasn't always been easy being a woman in a such a male-dominated field.
"It's completely transformed, but it still needs a huge transformation," Talic said. "In the last decade with more recent hires...they've done a pretty good job of hiring half women and half men."
Talic is working on showcasing that change in the longshore culture by creating a short documentary film with the B.C. Maritime Employers Association - and showing visitors at the BC Waterfront Games what she can do with some heavy duty equipment.
The games will bring together workers from five longshore union locals from throughout B.C. as they perform tasks that demonstrate accuracy, speed and safe operating procedures.
The BC Waterfront Games are on Sept. 13 at the Waterfront Training Centre (11000 Twigg Pl., Mitchell Island, Richmond) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit www.bcwaterfrontgames.com for more information.
