Ferry workers will be asking if travel between health regions is essential
With the province poised to reveal details of tougher travel restrictions today, the union representing B.C. Ferries workers says its members will simply ask would-be travellers if their trip between health regions is essential and take them at their word.
If they’re told the trip is not essential, “We are not going to sell those folks a ticket,” Graeme Johnston, president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union, said Thursday. “And if they refuse to leave, then the only ticket they’ll be getting is from the police.”
If someone who is denied a ticket argues, Johnston said, the worker will disengage from the exchange and call for management. “And if the person still has a problem, then we expect that there will be a police response,” he said. “We do have some assurances that the police will be ready to respond to any issue that arises related to these orders.
“Our members are not enforcement officers.”
The union president said the new restrictions on travel between health regions are reasonable and probably overdue.
Ferries workers have had to deal with unhappy travellers during the pandemic, most recently this month, when a belligerent anti-masker confronted staff on board the Spirit of Vancouver Island after it left Swartz Bay. The ferry returned to port and the man was met by RCMP officers.
