BC Ferries and the Marine Workers back to loggerheads.

For a short period of time after the sinking of the Queen of the North it seemed as though BC Ferries and its union had begun to come a bit closer together, putting aside their ancient grievances with the goal of working together to solve some of the key issues of the fleet, not to mention making things safer for both employees and customers on the Marine system.

However, it would seem that the shelf life of that good will has come to a very sudden end. With the Marine Worker’s seeking out legal counsel for their members and advising those involved not to speak with the B. C. Ferries investigation, things once again are heating up in the world of labour relations at B. C. Ferries.

B. C. Ferries president David Hahn stepped in and suggested that those that don’t co-operate may be dismissed, that comment has heated up the rhetoric and attracted the interest of the North Coast’s MLA, Gary Coons.

The Daily News has details of the dispute and the comments by Coons.

FERRY BOSS’S COMMENTS INTIMIDATING, SAYS COONS.
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Monday, June 5, 2006
Page One

B. C. Ferries is threatening a range of punishments to employees who worked aboard the Queen of the North if they do not cooperate with an internal investigation.

“There is no waiting, it has to be dealt with soon,” said David Hahn, B. C. Ferries president.

“Employees who will not cooperate will be suspended without pay and it may lead to dismissal.”

Referring to Hahn’s comments as “intimidation”, North Coat MLA and NDP ferries critic Gary Coons said this is probably why the Transportation Safety Board is the best organization to investigate the incident, and not the ferries corporation.

“I think the relationship between B. C. Ferries and workers is stressed but it has been stressed ever since it went to this quasi-private entity – there’s no accountability to coastal communities, passengers or ferry workers,” he said.

“The B. C. Marine Ferry Workers follow-up report to the Queen of Surrey incident also found management used intimidation with workers over concerns with the Safety Management System.”

“But (ferries workers) have made it clear they’ll continue to speak out.”

According to Hahn, less than four crew members have refused to answer questions as part of the ferries’ corporation investigation. He has said the union has an obligation to help everyone in the province get to the bottom of the issue.

However, B. C. Ferry Marine Workers Union president Jackie Miller said 10 to 12 crew members who were on the Queen of the North on March 22 when the boat sank have been assigned legal counsel and been advised not to speak to B. C. Ferries.

“We expect that the divisional inquiry will have some negative results for some of our members because of their adherence to legal counsel’s advice not to speak about some of the events,” Miller said, adding that if B. C. Ferries disciplines crew members up to and including termination, the union will take some form of action.

“I can tell you right now, we don’t like threats and these people have been through enough.”

The North Coast MLA said he sees a connection between the threats and an announcement by the ferries union that they may ask for the Workers’ Compensation Board to look into the long term health and emotional impacts that the Queen of the North sinking had on workers. The union has also suggested that WCB needs to look at whether proper work and communication practices were in place and whether B. C. Ferries properly insured against all risks before the ferry sailed.

B. C. Ferries has been sent an Advisory Letter from the Transportation Safety Board telling them to make sure things on the bridge are (lined-up) with past training practices.” Coons said. “In reality, it sounds like they’ve strayed away from their past practices and the TSB wants them to go back to it.”

The public also needs to know more about directives from TSB if there are safety concerns that could impact passengers, he said.

The Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada, B. C. Ferries and the RCMP are currently investigating the sinking. The Transportation Safety Board has interviewed all of the crew members and has recently re-interviewed some of them. That information is confidential and shared neither with the RCMP nor the corporation.

The board will release a full report, making safety recommendations, which will take at least 18 months. If the board’s investigation turns up anything critical to public safety, that information will be released immediately in a separate advisory.