The chief executive of the Victoria Clipper ferry service says alternative travel plans are in the works if unionized employees go on strike over the Labour Day weekend.
The 25 members of Unifor Local 114 on the Victoria side of the Victoria-Seattle ferry voted unanimously to strike on Wednesday, saying if a fair deal isn’t reached before Sept. 3, they will be on the picket line during one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Negotiations between German-based owner FRS and the union have been ongoing since May after the union’s previous contract expired in October 2022. The union is negotiating for increased wages, updates to worker schedules and better job security.
“Unless the employer shows up to the bargaining table with a fair offer, the Victoria Clipper will be anchored on one of the busiest tourism weekends of the year,” said Lana Payne, Unifor national president. “Ferry workers deserve a fair contract and will take job action if negotiations continue to stall.”
Clipper CEO Mattias Pahnke said the company believes it has offered fair terms for a new deal, but is making contingency plans on Sept. 3 and 4 to maintain customer movement in the event of a strike.
He said the company will offer customers going north and south bus transportation and the use of the Victoria Coho ferry, which is based at the Inner Harbour and Port Angeles, Washington, to get back and forth. He said buses might also be used via Vancouver and B.C. Ferries.
He said if there is a strike the Clipper ferries will be pulled from the route.
However, he’s hopeful both sides can reach an agreement to avert a strike.
“We are continuing to look for solutions that supports workers,” said Pahnke.
He would not confirm or deny that FRS would bring in replacement workers to keep the ferry service afloat.
Unifor said it applied for the assistance of a conciliator to help close the gap between the parties, but during the 60-day conciliation period, the company agreed to meet for only three days.
The union said contract disputes and service disruptions would be something new to the Clipper service, adding the German company that purchased the ferry in 2016 from its Seattle-based founders has been more difficult to work with.
Pahnke said Clipper is coming off a “very tough” couple years that saw it shut down for two years during the pandemic, losing about $10 million US, which the CEO said was much higher than the ferry services the company runs in Europe.
“Our owners are typical German conservative shareholders,” said Pahnke. “We are fortunate the owners supported it during the pandemic with the very cautious approach [to the pandemic] taken by the federal government.”
He said if they hadn’t, the Clipper “would not exist today.”
The clipper has been a key tourism pipeline for Victoria and Seattle since 1986, when Washington entrepreneur Merideth Tall started the year-round catamaran service transporting passengers between Pier 69 in downtown Seattle and the heart of downtown Victoria in a little less than three hours.
The union represents workers in customer service, ticketing, baggage handling and docking at Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
“Good jobs and fair wages are pivotal to building a thriving tourism industry,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s regional director. “The Victoria Clipper is no exception. The company must negotiate a fair contract or risk total service disruption.”
Unifor has started to contact local businesses and festivals on both sides of the border that rely on international tourism.
Customers who do not want to risk being stranded can cancel reservations by email at [email protected] or call 800-888-2535. Standard fares are fully refundable for cancellations received two or more days prior to travel.
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