Greetings to all BCGEU Inland Ferry Workers
 
I write on behalf of your elected bargaining committees as we prepare to renegotiate your current collective agreements. The committees for Kootenay Lake, Arrow Lake, and François Lake have been meeting and working hard to develop a bargaining agenda and strategy that will address the concerns that were raised in the recently distributed surveys.
 
These are interesting times for our operations. We are facing many challenges:
 

• The growing disparity between BC Ferries, the Guild, and other maritime operations
• Revised Marine Personnel Regulations coming out soon
• Introductions of new vessels
• Training
• Successorship planning
• Retention and recruitment problems

 
Upon review, there is no doubt that the contracting out of our ferry services has created many deficits that we can no longer expect the employers or the Ministry of Transportation to deal with in a way that will benefit our members. As a result, we will be putting forth proposals that will address our concerns directly.
 
We are committed to achieving agreements that will create parity with comparable operations. This is necessary to ensure that we maintain good paying jobs that provide opportunities for people in our unique communities to work and enjoy a good quality of life. Our goal is to ensure that local residents will have the opportunity and incentive to achieve the highly skilled positions necessary to operate this service. The current conditions will not accomplish this.
 
Please watch for notices of these upcoming meetings so that you can be part of the conversation and have the most up to date information on these very important negotiations. We will need your support to accomplish the goals we have identified.
 
In Solidarity,
Mike Fenton, BCGEU Staff Representative


Download PDF of notice here