What at times had been an acrimonious bargaining period has come to an end with BC Ferries workers set to gain some significant pay bumps which will be retroactive to October of 2023.
The mid-contract one year 7.75% wage increase and 10% increases for specialized workers and mariners will be in place until March 31, 2025.
The announcement of the conclusion to arbitration came just before the Easter Weekend with BC Ferries officials expressing their encouragement as to how it all worked out.
“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. I’m grateful to our people for the patience they demonstrated over the last few months.Getting to this point has been a long time coming. 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. In fact, it's one of the largest increases in the company’s history and certainly one of the biggest in Canada in recent years for a company our size
I’m encouraged to see the arbitration panel fundamentally agree with our overall proposal and I’m happy we can now get on with paying our people more.” -- Nicolas Jimenez, President and CEO of BC Ferries.
It's hoped that with the increased salary and a robust recruiting program underway that BC Ferries will be able to avoid last summer's season of cancelled or delayed sailings in the 2024 season ahead.
The Full announcement from BC Ferries can be reviewed here.
The BC Ferry and Marine Workers' Union has not as of yet commented on their website on the contract settlement of last week.
Though they have offered up a few observations from the weekend's news reports
More notes on BC Ferries service on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii can be reviewed through our archive page.
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