Multiple ferry trips have been cancelled in B.C.’s Kootenays region this long weekend after WaterBridge ferries workers took job action and refused to work overtime.
The Upper Arrow Lake Ferry between Shelter Bay and Galena Bay, B.C., saw its late afternoon and evening sailings cancelled on both Saturday and Sunday — with all ferry trips from 3 p.m. until 1 a.m. PT suspended on both days.
The Upper Arrow Lake Ferry is set to not have any sailings between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. PT on Tuesday, Oct. 1, if the overtime ban continues. The union and operator both say unscheduled cancellations on other routes could also occur.
Waterbridge also operates the Needles Ferry between Fauquier and Needles, the Arrow Park Ferry and Adams Lake Ferry between Chase and Sorrento.
“WaterBridge Ferries understands that it is frustrating not knowing when or which ferry route is being affected,” reads a statement posted on the company’s Facebook page. “We are doing our best to keep all of our communities informed.”
While essential services — like emergency responders and those with health emergencies — are being accommodated during job action, workers say the overtime ban was necessary to draw attention to a need for a better contract.
Hundreds of commuters use the free ferries to traverse lakes and rivers in the Kootenays, and they are asked to check DriveBC for the latest updates.
The Kootenay Lake Ferry, Glade Cable and Harrop Cable ferries operated by Western Pacific Marine, another company, are not impacted by the current job action.
The union representing inland ferry workers at seven crossings in B.C.’s Kootenays has voted in favour of job action, while one of their employers has issued lockout notice. Megan Rokeby-Thomas of the Kootenay Lake Chamber of Commerce says that means hundreds of residents who rely on the ferry could be cut off from school, jobs and services.
Union asks for better compensation
In an interview, the president of the B.C. General Employees’ Union says around 90 workers staff the WaterBridge-operated ferries in the Kootenays.
Paul Finch said that staffing shortages have made extensive overtime a regular occurrence.
Transport Canada regulations state that all staff must be present for the vessel to sail, and the union estimates over four sailings a day had a staff member working overtime this year.
“Ferry workers are responsible for safely loading and navigating ferry crossings, and when workers are routinely working 20 to 30 additional hours per week and not able to take breaks, it puts everyone at risk,” Finch said in an earlier press statement.�
Finch said that workers are asking for wage increases similar to those received by B.C. Ferries workers.
“We would ask your support to pressure this employer to come back to the table with a fair and reasonable deal,” he said, making a plea to travellers affected by the cancellations.
WaterBridge owner Marinus Goossen told CBC News that his company is limited by its budget and service agreement with the Ministry of Transportation.
However, the union said it challenges that statement, and that it asked to see the contracts.
“I’ll be really frank about this, they presented no evidence to back that up. We don’t think it’s a true assertion,” Finch said.
Goossen had earlier said that he had offered raises to workers that would cost WaterBridge about $3.5 million over three years and that the wage increases the union wants would cost the company an additional $7 million.
Goossen added that overtime work on the ferries is happens for a variety of reasons — such as injuries, pre-scheduled holidays, and union negotiations — and it was difficult to predict which ferries could be affected by the job action.