Months into the Kootenay Lake Ferry strike, talks remain at a standstill, with both the employer, Western Pacific Marine, and the BC General Employees Union locked in a bitter dispute over wages and bargaining tactics.
Western Pacific Marine operates the Kootenay Lake Ferry and the two cable ferries at Harrop and Glade. Job action on the Kootenay Lake Ferry began in November 2024 and has disrupted sailings ever since.
In its latest statement on March 11, the BC General Employees’ Union accused WPM of “slashing the wage increases previously offered to workers” following weeks of what it calls seemingly productive bargaining.
“Union members were shocked today when WPM’s owner joined bargaining for the first time to table a final offer that slashed the wage increases previously offered to workers. Just last week, the union negotiating team was reassured by WPM’s team that they were close to a deal with terms similar to those agreed to by B.C.’s other inland ferry operators in the fall,” said the BCGEU.
WPM General Manager Odai Sirri says this accusation is “100 per cent false” and is the reason WPM wants to submit the dispute to an interest arbitrator.
“There have been a number of wild accusations levelled by the BCGEU. Unfortunately, the BCGEU has a natural inclination to mislead, misinform, and manipulate people, and that press statement was another example of that. That was 100 per cent false, and that’s why we want an arbitrator in the room.”
Sirri says the company remains committed to fair negotiations and ensuring a sustainable future for ferry operations in the Kootenay region.
However, despite months of bargaining, he claims the BCGEU has continuously stalled progress through obstructionist tactics, delaying the process to maximize leverage ahead of the peak summer season, when ferry service is most critical to the regional economy.
“It’s been nine months we’ve been in this process, and it really didn’t need to take this long. One of the concerns we’ve always raised is that we want to get back to the table, continue negotiating, and reach a long-term deal, but there were many challenges in making that happen. We’ve negotiated many collective agreements—it’s not very common for them to drag on like this, so that’s obviously a very big concern for us.”
Wage cuts and scheduling
The BCGEU says WPM’s final offer cut more than 60 per cent of the increases put forward in October, before the job action even started. It also claims workers at WPM are already paid up to 20 per cent less than those in similar roles at BC Ferries.
If this offer were accepted, the BCGEU says even more WPM staff would be poached by BC Ferries or other inland ferry operators.
“WPM’s latest offer and the manner in which it was delivered is a flat-out insult to ferry workers and the Kootenay community they serve. To engage in months of bargaining, through job action and multiple Labour Board hearings, only to drastically change their position at the final hour, shows that WPM never cared for anything other than their short-term profits,” said Paul Finch, president of the BCGEU.
“Inland ferries are a vital public service in B.C. that connect otherwise isolated communities, and it’s time the government evaluated how suitable WPM—a private, profit-seeking business—is to run this service.”
However, WPM says its unionized employees are already among the highest-paid inland ferry workers in Canada.
The last strike in 2019 led to significant wage increases, with the BCGEU demanding wages equal to or higher than those of crews on BC Ferries.
Now, WPM says the union is seeking even greater increases, which would make a captain on the Osprey the highest-paid in Canada relative to their Transport Canada certification level.
For reference, a captain on the Osprey currently earns $62 per hour, while a captain on a similar-sized BC Ferries vessel, as of April 2024, also earns $62 per hour—even though the qualifications for BC Ferries are significantly different.
In addition to the wage increase, WPM says it has also accommodated the union’s request to consider a day-for-day scheduling system instead of the existing shift pattern.
This scheduling system requires an expanded workforce to fulfil a full day’s worth of sailings, additional staffing to cover days of rest, increased employee benefits, and additional holiday time—all of which add significant costs to the operation of the Kootenay Lake Ferries.
While WPM agreed to this transition, it says the BCGEU has “refused to acknowledge the associated costs, further complicating the negotiations.”
With WPM suspecting that the union’s strategy is to stall negotiations until summer, the company proposed submitting the dispute to an interest arbitrator, which the BCGEU refused.
Arbitration proposal refused
Sirri says WPM has “nothing to hide,” adding that the BCGEU’s refusal to submit to arbitration “reinforces our belief that they are deliberately delaying negotiations to maximize disruption during peak season.”
“We’re very transparent and open to having an arbitrator look at this independently and not weaponize the information against the company. It should be a very open-and-shut case, so an arbitrator can help resolve this.
It makes zero sense not to have an arbitrator in the room. It is unfair to the community to have to wait and be held hostage by this situation. If we can’t come to an agreement together, then we need an arbitrator—it’s very straightforward. Why the union says no is beyond me. It’s beyond all of us.”
Next Steps
The BCGEU says its bargaining committee will meet with members in the coming days to discuss what happened at the bargaining table, determine their next steps, and investigate potential legal action.
“Over the past few weeks, the BCGEU bargaining committee was hopeful of reaching an agreement that would ensure the sustainability of the ferry service, but Clarke pulled the rug out from under our committee by parachuting in and slashing the wage offer. In our union’s opinion, their latest actions constitute bargaining in bad faith, and we will potentially be filing charges at the Labour Board,” said Finch.
WPM says the BCGEU should “abandon its stalling tactics” and return to the bargaining table with a “genuine commitment to securing a fair and timely agreement.”
Be the first to know! Don’t miss out on breaking news and daily updates in your area. Sign up to MyKootenayNow News Alerts.
