B.C. Ferries workers get 7.75 per cent wage hike

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

About 40 per cent of the union's approximately 4,700 members are also set to receive a “special increases” wage hike, including some licensed mariners who would 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 some stability back to the ferry system so we won't have a summer like we've had the last few years.”

“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,” B.C. Ferries president Nicolas Jimenez said in a news release.

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

An impasse sent the matter 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.

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