Inland ferry dispute threatens to strand Kootenay residents
Dispute over wages casts uncertainty over service's future
As negotiations between two Interior B.C. ferry operators come to a head, hundreds of commuters in the Kootenays worry job action could mean lengthy delays on their way to work.
On Tuesday, the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU) issued 72-hours strike notice, putting it in a position to shut down seven ferry routes crossing Kootenay Lake, Arrow Lakes, and a handful of small rivers in the area as early as Thursday evening.
That action was delayed after the union's employers filed a request with B.C.'s Labour Relations Board, applying to have the ferries designated an essential service. The union confirmed to CBC News Thursday afternoon that this means services will not be affected through the weekend.
But the dispute is causing uncertainty for the hundreds of B.C. residents who rely on the ferries to access jobs, schools and services.
Megan Rokeby-Thomas, owner of Ladybug Coffee near the Kootenay Bay ferry terminal, says her coffee shop has been flooded with customers wondering if they should cancel medical appointments across the water.
"There's a lot of fear because it's unsure," she told CBC Daybreak South host Chris Walker. "It's a struggle for all of our community to plan and have any certainty about the future."
Waterbridge and Western Pacific Marine, the operators, have filed for essential status to keep ferry service running for essential travel only, like school buses and emergency vehicles, during job action.
But Rokeby-Thomas, who is also director of the Kootenay Lake Chamber of Commerce, says even if some routes are running, job action could cause hours-long delays for commuters, who would have to drive through the mountains around Kootenay Lake to reach the other side.
The union last went on strike in 2019, reducing routes to essential services only. Although the ferry service was deemed essential, the cuts to service still meant residents struggled to get to work, school or medical appointments across the lake.
Dispute over wages
The union and WaterBridge, one of the operators, say negotiations broke down over wage increases for approximately 170 ferry operators, engineers, deckhands, terminal attendants and other workers.
BCGEU president Paul Finch said its members are seeking a wage increase of approximately 20 per cent, so they make the same wages as B.C. Ferries workers.
"If that gap isn't closed, the ferries will be unable to recruit or train the qualified staff that they need to operate," Finch said in a statement Tuesday.
But Marinus Goossen, owner of WaterBridge, told Daybreak South his company doesn't operate on the scale of B.C. Ferries and would have trouble offering wage parity with B.C. Ferries workers.
"We're a little bit challenged in meeting the demands for the B.C. Ferries wage increases that the BCGEU is asking for," he said.
He said the employers have offered wage increases to workers that would cost WaterBridge about $3.5 million over three years, but the wage increases the union wants would cost the company an additional $7 million.
He's calling for arbitration.
Those sentiments were echoed by Western Pacific Marine general manager Odai Sirri who confirmed his company's request for an essential service designation.
"[Ferry service] is part of the economy there, it's part of the life there," he said of the ask. "It really frankly is an essential service."
The affected routes include the Kootenay Lake Ferry and the Glade Cable and Harrop Cable ferries, operated by Western Pacific Marine. They also include the Upper Arrow Lakes Ferry, the Needles Ferry, the Arrow Park Ferry and the Adams Lake Ferry, operated by WaterBridge.
With files from Alya Ramadan and Daybreak South