Kootenay residents unite to keep their ferries

In southeastern British Columbia, residents in the communities of Glade, Harrop and Procter are welcoming a temporary reprieve from the labor dispute that threatens to significantly reduce cable ferry services essential to their daily lives.

Cable ferry schedules were to be significantly reduced starting Monday due to an escalation in the dispute, but the employer announced Sunday that the British Columbia Labor Relations Board (BCLRB) has granted a stay to his decision.

Services should therefore continue to operate normally while the Commission reviews the essential service order imposed on the union.

The three communities along Kootenay Lake – accessible only by water – were at risk of seeing their ferry services reduced by 90 per cent starting Monday morning.

In a statement, Odai Sirri, general manager of the employer, Western Pacific Marinesaid the Commission will announce next week the dates of the next hearings, during which it will determine whether the crossings can be reduced to essential service journeys or not.

To be clear, until the reconsideration hearing takes place, all cable ferry services will continue as usualhe said.

This is our highway

For Glade resident Roxanne Reid, the ferry isn’t just a convenience, it’s a lifeline.

A mother of three, she says her husband would have been forced to paddle across Kootenay Lake to work if the ferries cut their services.

We parked it near the beach, ready to goshe says of the family canoe.

The Glade ferry, which typically makes 130 round trips a day, would now make only 16 trips, and the Harrop-Procter ferry, which operates 24 hours a day on demand, would make only eight trips a day.

For the three villages, which have a combined population of around 900 people, Roxanne Reid indicates that the ferry is the only means of transportation allowing residents to access basic services.

We have no amenities here. There are no doctors, no grocery stores, there is nothing. The cable ferry is our gateway to everything.

Community action

Under the essential service order, which the Commission will now review, passengers would be limited to urgent and essential trips, such as doctor’s appointments or trips to elementary or secondary school.

Jobs are essentialunderlines Roxanne Reid. We use the ferry to get to our jobs which allow us to keep a roof over our heads and stock our fridge.

She explains that the entire community came together to write letters to the Ministry of Labor and the Labor Commission, and to contact the employer to prevent them from reducing sailing times.

Lee Vincent, committee chair Glade Ferryacknowledges that the collective efforts of the community have achieved a temporary reprieve, but remains concerned about the long-term future of the service.

She explains that community members formed the committee Glade Ferry to unite and make their voices heard against the proposed reduction in crossings.

We remain very concerned that the essential service order is being used as a weapon for labor-management actions, and that communities are being held hostage for this.

You can’t block a highway without anyone’s permission, so how can you block the only access to these communities?

Andy Davidoff, Regional District Manager Central Kootenayechoed these concerns, calling for legislative changes to include greater community consultation during labor disputes that affect essential services.

Labor conflict

Employees of the British Columbia General Labor Union (BCGEU) have been on strike since November 3. In particular, they are asking their employer, Western Pacific Marine, for salary increases and changes to their working hours.

The president of BCGEUPaul Finch, said the union sympathized with the residents, but blamed the employer for the ongoing dispute.

We will continue this strike to the fullest extent possible until our members obtain a fair agreementhe said.

With information from Shaurya Kshatri