Photo: File

Contract negotiations between unionized ferry workers and their employer have moved from the boardroom to the public arena as salvos have recently been fired on both sides while contract discussions have stalled.

In response to the B.C. General Employee’s Union (BCGEU) open letter on March 21, Western Pacific Marine (WPM) stated on Sunday in regard to negotiations that it could not “sustain the union’s excessive demands, leading to this impasse.”

WPM general manager Odai Sirri said the company had requested arbitration on several ocassions to resolve these issues but the union has refused.

“The union has claimed that they seek wage parity with Waterbridge Ferries. However, WPM’s wages are already higher than those of Waterbridge and will remain so for the duration of Waterbridge’s settled collective agreement if the union simply accepts our offer,” he said in the press release.

On Friday, the BCGEU said it was filing a formal complaint of bad faith bargaining against WPM with the B.C. Labour Relations Board, stemming from what the union considers a significant breakdown in negotiations following the company's recent actions.

“For the past several weeks, BCGEU representatives have spent countless hours at the bargaining table with WPM, hopeful that an agreement could be reached to ensure the sustainability of essential ferry services in the Kootenay (region),” the BCGEU missive on March 21 stated.

BCGEU president Paul Finch said WPM offered “a drastic cut to wage proposals” during the latest round of negotiation.

“The company’s decision to change its position at the final hour — cutting its offer on wages by more than 60 per cent from previous offers — leaves us no choice but to pursue charges of bad faith bargaining with the Labour Relations Board,” he said.

In the official complaint being filed with the Labour Relations Board, the BCGEU has stated that WPM attempted to frustrate the bargaining process by delaying negotiations so that it could ultimately advocate for government-imposed binding interest arbitration.

But the union is overstepping its bounds, said Sirri, as it attempts to dictate not only compensation levels but also hiring decisions, operational management and workforce composition.

“The union has highlighted a three per cent annual wage increase over the next five years but omitted the extensive benefit enhancements that have been agreed upon,” Sirri pointed out. “These include higher vacation entitlements, personal leave provisions, increased dental and extended health benefits (and) greater clothing and safety gear allowances.”

Ferry workers have been on strike since Nov. 3. The strike has limited sailings across Kootenay Lake, between Balfour and Kootenay Bay. Like the smaller routes, it is subject to an essential service designation and cannot be halted entirely.

A reduction in sailings on the Glade and Harrop-Proctor cable ferries would greatly impact over 900 people who live in the water-access-only communities.