Ferry workers get 7.75% mid-contract boost

Unionized B.C. Ferries workers are set to receive a one-year wage increase of at least 7.75 per cent, a move the ferry company and union hopes will help to attract and retain workers and prevent sailing cancellations due to crew shortages.

About 40 per cent of the union’s 4,700 members are also set to receive a “special increases” wage boost, including some licensed mariners who are to receive up to an additional 10 per cent.

“It’s a step in the right direction but for a lot of people it won’t be as much as they’re hoping for,” said Eric McNeely, president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union.

“But hopefully it’ll bring back some stability to the ferry system so we won’t have a summer like we’ve had the last few years.”

In a statement, B.C. Ferries president Nicolas Jimenez said the settlement has been a long time coming.

“We know wages haven’t kept up for our people and that more was needed for us to get back to being an employer of choice,” he said. “The offer we put on the table six months ago was a very good one then, and it’s still a very good one today — even more so when you consider it’s a one-year increase.”

B.C. Ferries reopened wage talks with the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union midcontract last August to address issues of high inflation and wage disparities, which the union warned could result in workers being lured by higher-paying jobs.

Both sides reached an impasse and went to arbitration starting in October. After nine days of hearings in October and February, the panel released its decision Thursday night. The settlement will apply retroactively to Oct. 1, 2023 and will be in place until March 31, 2025.

Workers who are slated to get the additional increase include entry-level workers, ship officers, most trades with the exception of cooks, commercial drivers, purchasing agents, deck hands and engine room assistants, said McNeely.

Jimenez said the increase is one of the largest in the ferry company’s history and one of the biggest in the country in recent years for a company its size.

In its last fiscal year, B.C. Ferries reported that 40 per cent of all ferry cancellations were due to staffing shortages.

The company said it has hired more than 1,000 new staff in the past year, and has seen cancellations due to staffing shortages drop by 37 per cent.

“These new compensation levels should only help continue that trend,” said B.C. Ferries.

The current five-year collective agreement goes to Oct. 31, 2025 with provisions to reopen wage talks in April 2025.