BC Ferries’ Labour Relations at ‘All-Time Low’, Says Union
Low employee morale and a bitter dispute over overtime pay are adding to the challenges for BC Ferries, says the head of the union representing workers at the publicly owned company.
“The relationship between the employer and the employees, and the employer and the union, is at… an all-time low,” said Eric McNeely, president of the 4,000-member BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union.
McNeely said he doesn’t remember the relationship ever being so strained in the 14 years he has worked for BC Ferries. “I meet with members every time I travel, just about everywhere I go, and they’re struggling and they shouldn’t have to struggle to get the pay that they are owed for doing the work they conducted.”
BC Ferries has had a growing number of cancelled sailings, many of them due to staffing shortages. Ferries can’t sail unless they meet the minimum crew requirements Transport Canada sets. That has meant travellers with and without reservations experiencing long waits, even on weekdays in October when ferry traffic is relatively light.
