The BC General Employees Union wants its Kootenay Lake Ferry strike action to extend to the Glade and Harrop cable ferries.
But they cannot reduce service for those routes without approval from the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB), because both ferries provide the only access to their communities.
The Glade Ferry (a three-minute crossing) operates on demand, from 5 a.m. to 2:20 a.m., and the Harrop Ferry (a five-minute crossing) operates on demand 24-7.
The union has applied to the LRB for an order that would specify no specific sailings as essential, but that the following categories of passengers may cross when they arrive at the ferry landing: students going to school, ambulances, RCMP vehicles, any emergency dispatch, health professionals, anyone attending a regularly scheduled medical appointment, anyone responding to a mental or physical health emergency.
The union proposal states that this will apply during an "initial period" of seven days of job action. Following that period, the application states, "for each seven days of job action after the initial period, the ferry will run for one 24-hour period, at the employer’s discretion, on its regular schedule."
The LRB is holding a hearing this week, starting on Dec. 16 for up to five days to hear from both sides. In the meantime, until a decision following the hearing, the strike will not affect Glade and Harrop.
In its application for a hearing, the union states that "the proposed essential services level will not result in an immediate and serious threat to the health, safety and welfare of people who require passage on the cable ferries. Further, the union’s proposal appropriately balances the responsibility entrusted to the Board to ensure that essential services are maintained at a level necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents."
Request for reconsideration on Kootenay Lake
The union's strike action against the ferry operator, Western Pacific Marine, began on Nov. 3, and affected the Kootenay Lake Ferry between Kootenay Bay and Balfour. An LRB essential services order stipulated that a minimum of three weekday-only ferries must run, and passengers considered essential could board.
The company appealed this definition of essential service to the LRB, stating that it was too restrictive. The LRB agreed and on Nov. 28 ordered two changes in an amended order: that two ferries must run on the weekends, and that on all days of the week, after all passengers considered essential have boarded, regular passengers could board until the boat was full.
The union said the new order compromised its position by reducing the public pressure to come to a settlement. It formally asked the LRB reverse this order while it formally applied for a reconsideration.
In a decision dated Dec. 9, the LRB denied this request.
The issues between union and management in the labour dispute are wages and work schedules.
