Ferry good times
Parsons outlines experiences aboard CN ferries
When I was a boy living at 397 Purves Street, our kitchen window looked out on the harbour, and we thought we knew the name of every boat and ship that came into the harbour.
But, thinking about those Newfoundland ferries today I had no idea how extensive John Parsons experience was with these ships.
I knew John had been in the union at CN then (Marine Atlantic today) so I visited him to find out more.
John was president of the CBRT & GW (Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Transportation and General Works) union from 1984 to 1989. Later, he became IGF Inspector for the International Transportation Workers Federation from 1990 to 2006.
Through the years, he worked on the William Carlson, Leif Erikson, Ambrose Shea, Frederick Carter, Bona Vista, Hopedale, Stena Carrier, Jud Atlantica, Sea Trader, the Princess of Tasmania from Australia better known to the men as “the Pot” and the Atlantic Freighter.
During his career, he was an assistant steward and finished up as chief steward as well as able-bodied seaman, quarter master and bosun.
At this time, he was president of the local, Union 285. He finished working with the vessels in 1984 when he went full-time with the union and he retired in 2006. Presently, he is the pension board representative for the pensioners of Marine Atlantic.
As ITF Inspector (International Transportation Workers Federation) from 1990 to 2006, John travelled to Halifax every Monday and returned home to Cape Breton every Friday.
It was an international job, inspecting flag of convenience vessels with foreign crews, making sure the crews got paid, clothed, ships safety and so forth.
For example a Filipino crew might not get paid for a year so John would intervene. One crew received a total of $305,000 paid in USA dollars.
“It was a very interesting job, helping your fellow seafarers,” he says.
Doing this work, he travelled to countries such as Russia, India, South Africa, Europe (England, France, Germany, Cyprus) and to the USA for seminars and conventions.
He inspected about 100 ships a year from 1990 to 2006 all over Atlantic Canada.
A short history of John’s family reveals deep nautical roots. His first cousin George Parsons, his father George and his brothers Brian and Lloyd all worked aboard ship for a total of more than 200 years of service with his family and George’s. John’s father, John, his brothers Bob, Myles, John and two sisters Beth and Cathy and his young brother Gerard have all worked for the company, mostly CN at the time, which became a crown corporation in 1986.
John had some vivid memories during his career aboard ship. He remembers being on the Atlantic Freighter. She was 65 feet from the waterline to the bridge, and believe it or not, they were looking up at the waves rolling in on them in the Gulf on a voyage from Newfoundland to North Sydney.
When he was sailing on the Joseph and Clara Smallwood, they left Port aux Basques with a good breeze of wind and high seas. By the time they got around Channel Head there was $250,000 in damages, but they still made it to North Sydney.
Another memory is also connected to his time on the Atlantic Freighter. The Canadian Coast Guard reported the body of a person from Prince Edward Island that had been lost in the ocean in February. The Atlantic Freighter sailed to the area and picked up the body but it was quite an ordeal since the body had been missing for five months, from February to June. It was a very difficult operation and John didn’t want to go into the details.
Note: In 1985 we had the new Caribou II and the Joseph & Clara Smallwood. Now they have been replaced by the MV Atlantic Vision, the MV Blue Puttees, the MV Highlanders and the MV Leif Ericson.