Employees of the Comfort Inn and Suites in Victoria are spending a stressful long weekend trying to figure whether they still have jobs.
Ryan Smith, the hotel鈥檚 food and beverage manager, said employees were blindsided by news Friday that the B.C. government had purchased the hotel at 3020 Blanshard St. for $18.5 million to house 65 people from the homeless camps at Topaz Park and Pandora Avenue.
Smith said he and other workers learned of the sale through news reports and have since received only vague responses from B.C. Housing about what that means for their futures.
There were more than 100 people on the payroll when the hotel began laying off staff due to the COVID-19 outbreak in March, he said.
鈥淭hey sent us a request to have our employee information transferred over to B.C. Housing,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have not responded to my questions asking what that entails.鈥�
B.C. Housing confirmed in a statement that its human resources department has reached out to the Comfort Inn鈥檚 employees and is discussing options with them. 鈥淏.C. Housing is looking forward to bringing many of these workers on as part of our team 鈥� they have skills that we鈥檙e looking for to help run these temporary accommodations,鈥� the statement said.
But Smith said the jobs and working conditions will be far different from the ones employees left in March. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e really expecting from a bunch of hospitality workers, you know cooks, dishwashers, servers,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not equipped to deal with that. That鈥檚 not our line of profession.
鈥淚鈥檓 not passing judgment on the people who are moving in, or anything like that; it鈥檚 just not what we signed up for. It鈥檚 not our jobs, so when they say that they are offering our jobs back, they鈥檙e offering work, but not our jobs in our fields. How do you expect a 19-year-old server to be equipped to deal with people with those type of setbacks in life? It鈥檚 not viable.鈥�
Smith said it鈥檚 also unclear whether employees will lose their COVID emergency response benefits if they decline to return to jobs that have changed dramatically since the shutdown. 鈥淚n theory, we are facing not having our jobs to return to and being cut off of the benefits that are paying our rent, paying our mortgages, keeping food on the tables for our families,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 absurd.鈥�
Clayton Rourke, a kitchen supervisor, said the stress of being laid off during the pandemic has been magnified by the hotel鈥檚 sale and the potential loss of benefits if he refuses temporary work at the new shelter.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty much forced to take this job, that鈥檚 a temporary job that we鈥檙e not really qualified for,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 know what to do, to be honest.鈥�
Adding to the uncertainty, Rourke said B.C. Housing has offered little information and hasn鈥檛 responded to his calls.
鈥淲e got the offer, but it didn't really have any details,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 have a wage. It didn鈥檛 have job description. It didn鈥檛 have anything. They鈥檙e just saying: 鈥楢re聽you willing to work for us?鈥� We could be doing anything.鈥�
Smith and Rourke said employees are scrambling to get answers, but it鈥檚 a difficult situation with the government and lawyers鈥� offices closed for three days.
鈥淭he hard part for us is there鈥檚 no one really to talk to, because it鈥檚 the long weekend,鈥� Smith said.
The province ordered the evacuation of the homeless camps last month to protect people amid two public health emergencies 鈥� the COVID-19 outbreak and the ongoing drug-overdose crisis.
With the purchase of the Comfort Inn, the province has acquired about 440 rooms at hotels, motels and other facilities in Victoria, including 45 spaces at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
B.C. Housing says 234 of 360聽people had moved from the camps into those spaces as of 4聽p.m. Friday.
Social Development Minister Shane Simpson said more are expected to begin transitioning to the Comfort Inn across from Topaz Park in the coming days.
B.C. Housing will partner with Our Place Society to operate the former hotel and make sure people receive meals, health-care services, addictions treatment and harm reduction, and storage for personal belongings. Staff will be on site 24 hours a day to provide security for residents and the neighbourhood.
Simpson said the long-term plan is to redevelop the site to create affordable housing.
