Engine room crew say poor management and low pay are hobbling workforce, resulting in canceled sailings, backlog of repairs and maintenance
||| FROM KRISTIN HYDE from MARINE ENGINEERS BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION |||
Seattle, WA – Today at a news conference at the Seattle Ferry Terminal on Pier 52’s Colman Dock, Washington State Ferries’ engine room crew said poor management and low pay is pushing the state’s ferry system further into crisis.
Ferry engine room crew, backed by their union the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A), have launched a public petition asking Washington Governor Jay Inslee to direct the state to provide competitive pay to retain and recruit engine room crew, key to restoring safe and reliable ferry service.
Washington State Ferries is the largest passenger ferry system in America, a critical link in the Washington state transportation system. Ferry ridership is returning to pre-pandemic levels, but service is unreliable. In 2023, there were more than 3,500 canceled sailings, and service disruptions continue.
Roland Rexha, Secretary Treasurer of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A): “The lack of highly trained, essential engine room crew to run ferries each day is the number one reason for canceled ferry sailings, and low pay is the number one reason why the ferries are short staffed. Engine room crew aren’t as visible to the public as deck crew, but ferries can’t run, get needed maintenance or repairs without them. Other ferry systems around the country that have invested in competitive wages have seen their engine room workforce shortage disappear and been able to restore reliable, on-time, service to passengers. Unless Governor Inslee and the state agencies responsible for Washington State Ferries step up and make the investment in wages needed to retain and recruit essential crew members, the Washington Ferry System will slide further into failure.”
Washington State Ferries depend on marine engineers and oilers to operate, repair and maintain ferry vessels. Four hundred of 1800 Washington State Ferry employees are marine engineers. These essential engine room crew are represented by the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the nation’s premier union representing marine engineers and deck officers. When there are not enough crew, boats tie up and do not run, causing delays and canceled sailings that have a ripple effect on the people, businesses and communities that depend on them.
Eric Winge, Washington State Ferries representative for M.E.B.A said: “Some engine room crew members are being asked to work 100 hours of overtime per month. It’s unreasonable, causes burnout and threatens safe operations. The state’s refusal to address pay disparity is pushing experienced crew to take early retirement or leave for better paying private sector jobs. By closing the growing gap between engine room crew pay and the cost of living here in the Puget Sound region, the state can address these serious workforce issues and build the bench of engineers we’ll need to operate, maintain and repair the new ferries coming online in the years ahead.”
Brandi Bennett, a chief engineer on the M/V Tillikum in the San Juan Islands added, “With older boats and deferred maintenance, the engineers have a large burden to keep the boats running. More work, more overtime, and pay that doesn’t even keep up with COLA. My 8-year old daughter has commented on me not being home for 7 days anymore because of the agency’s reliance on overtime. Most of us came to work for the ferries because of the work-life balance. We no longer have that.”
Brandon Powell, an oiler on M/V Tacoma on the Bainbridge-Seattle run, shared: “You can’t just hire anyone to do these jobs. Even entry level oilers require years of training and sea time to become licensed credentialed engine room crew. I took this job with the ferries instead of a higher paying position in the private sector so I could be there for my five kids and my wife. But it’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet and justify staying in this job when management doesn’t treat us equitably. Consistently relying upon overtime to keep the ferry system operational is an extremely dangerous management strategy.”
Nick Twietmeyer, an oiler on the M/V Spokane Kingston-Edmonds run added: “Wages are not in line with the cost of living here in the Puget Sound region. Morale is plummeting, driven by a lack of adequate compensation despite my colleagues vast technical knowledge and mechanical capabilities. Ferry dependent communities are suffering. Canceled sailings threaten the livelihoods and health of hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians, impacting our state’s economy and revenue from ferry-based tourism. Ferry riders have a right to expect reliable ferry service, but that’s impossible when management doesn’t prioritize the workers who are responsible for ensuring ferries are well maintained and adequately staffed. It’s shameful that Washington has gone from one of the best paying ferry systems in the country to one of the worst.”
Phil Wolf, a licensed oiler who works on the M/V Puyallup Kingston-Edmonds run, shared: “Marine engineers are the first line of defense any time there is a problem keeping the ferries in operation. We literally fix everything on the ship! We are the lowest paid members of the ship’s crew, yet we have the greatest responsibility to safeguard its operation. The State of Washington has no problem finding the funding and budget to retrofit 3 Jumbo Mark 2 ferries to hybrid electric as well as billions more to construct new hybrid ferries in the future, but they can’t seem to find the funding or budget to pay these crews the wages needed to operate, repair and maintain these ever increasing technologically complex ships.”
Cameron Ruth, a chief engineer on the M/V Yakima Anacortes-San Juan Islands run added: “Washington State Ferries’ management fails to see the value of fairly paying the staff that keep the boats running, on average paying engineers 19% less than equivalent positions on deck and in the wheelhouse. Because of the lower wages, it has been much harder to attract and retain marine engineers with the necessary education and experience in the field to run the boats efficiently. The state needs to invest not only in new boats and captains, but also in its forgotten engineers that silently keep vessels running day in and day out.”
The fishing industry is collapsing (from a variety of causes) and there are plenty of people with experience at sea keeping old rust-buckets afloat that are looking for well paid jobs. The UNION has got to be more flexible about getting these potential WSF crew members credentialed and working. Yes, of course people need to be paid a living wage, that should go without saying, but for MEBA to hold us all hostage for higher wages at this time is simply opportunistic. If the union cannot, or more likely will not, provide sufficient certified crew for the WSF, then WSF needs to hire non-union workers. The current situation is simply untenable. If every ferryboat has to be 100% union staffed (which is a fine idea to my union-card-carrying mind) then the union MUST provide sufficient union members. That is the basic agreement between labor and management. The union negotiated the wage scale and agreed to the existing wages. But now they want a raise? When they have not provided sufficient certified crew ready to work? In San Juan County the WSF is an essential service and union sentiments should not be prioritized over providing that service in a timely manner.
Ken Wood,
I hear you, but respectfully, your main assumption is flawed in that all crews are union members. WSF hires directly, and people are given the opportunity to join the union, of which more and more decline. The only hire from the union is every third assistant engineer.
Ken, the State took control of hiring Entry level Engineers after the Janus decision. Washington state ferries controls the hiring now of the oilers and not the union any more. The union never had trouble finding qualified individuals. The state on the other hand has had lots of trouble. Out of 18 oiler positions recently , they were only able to find one oiler. Now the state is having to resort to hiring wipers(no engine room experience or testing required as opposed to at least one year and an exam with oilers). We used to have retired navy, offshore engineers, ex fishing industry folks lining up out the union hall door every time we’d have an oiler hiring, many with officers licenses. But now adays, when they see the pay, they don’t want anything to do with the engine room at Washington state ferries. We are hiring people with so little experience and the state is not providing the necessary amount of training that will make it safe for the riding public going forward.
Ken Wood, the MEBA has no control over credentialing merchant mariners, the responsibility lies solely with the United States Coast Guard. They have strict parameters regarding sea time and examinations. Further, one of the repercussions of the Supreme Courts Janus decision was that the State of Washington removed the hiring of licensed and unlicensed engineers from the MEBA union, this action as well as low pay has caused a further decline of qualified engineers from coming to the system. The state of Washington if fully at fault for the decline we see in the ferry system today.
Here’s a link to Chief Engineer Brandi Bennett’s informative interview on CNL2: https://cnl2.com/brandy-bennett-interview-7-13-2024. Apparently, part of the crewing issue, at least for engineers, and presumably officers, is that each boat is different, and crew must be trained and certified for each vessel. So, apart from the neglect of adequate funding by the legislature and of competitive compensation and succession planning by WSF administrators, there’s an amazing lack of foresight in cross-training and interchangeability of engineering crew and officers.
In the current economy, and in an industry where skilled labor and highly trained workers are necessary for the basic operation of the vessels, it is disingenuous to bring a contract offer to the table which reflects a net reduction in real pay. If our goal is to build capacity and bolster the currently failing system, leadership cannot plead poverty while at the same time placing additional burden on the backs of the workers. It is disrespectful to the employees and negligent to our communities.
As the Union representative stated at the press conference, 40% of the current service disruptions are due to a lack of available engineering crew. We must, as a State return our engineering crew positions to a place of prestige in the maritime industry. Doing so will not only result in more available crew but will also result in better outcomes for boat maintenance, on-time performance and ultimately a net positive return from positive economic outcomes for our affected communities.
I encourage all ferry served communities to urge leadership to do what is not only morally right, but simply the correct thing to do for our ferries – give the MEBA members the compensation that they have earned and deserve.
Well said, Justin!
We are talking about the first offer was 1 percent/zero. Then the next was 2 percent for the 2 year contract and zero the last half of it. Eagle Harbor crafts receive zero COLA. And haven’t for many years.
The State doesn’t rely on the maritime competitive wages as a guideline. They are using production manufacturers guidelines, as they wont use federal/maritime guidelines. They don’t feel the need of it as it doesn’t fit their perspective.
It used to be that WSF was the place to have a career. Nowadays, prospects laugh when wages are brought up, as why work for less than what they receive now in wages.
They just wanted, like all of us, work/life balance that the state apparently prides itself on.
And fail miserably.
Might I add too, that the covid mandates had alot of workers fired, after the promised medical/religious exemptions were offered. It didn’t matter.
Btw, nearly everyone that were vaccinated got covid anyways at WSF.
On point, Justin. I am honored to be part of the Community Water Taxi work with you.
Completely lacking in this union piece is the following:
Last posting by WSF staffing available (which Justin Paulson should know from last FAC meeting where WSF’ management stated they eliminated fstaffing data from public their monthly posting), licensed engine crew staffing target is 200, and there were 182 on board (91%), and unlicensed Engine( Oilers) staffing target is 202, with 202 aboard (100%). WSF is running only 15 vessels this summer instead of the 19 they had been operating per-Covid (79% of normal). Per operating vessel, WSF appears to be at or near an all time high for ferry crew engineering personnel. Additionally, the last short state legislative session gave WSF funding for 22 additional wipers/oilers to help eliminate engine room crew shortages (essentially one per fleet ferry), and WSF data shows all new 22 have been hired and qualified.
Zero mention of actual salary engineers salary and benefits by the union piece. Previous comments from WSF management is WSF’s isn’t paying the same as marine engineers in international shipping. That’s an issue if true and it probably is, but international savings mean months at sea. Good pay, terrible family life. Most WSF workers go home most days. And WSF current pay and benefits is undoubtedly MUCH higher than the thousands of engineroom employees in the US. Navy that go on month long deployments and actually venture into war zones instead of crab pot zones. The union article fails to specify if the wage gap is WSF vs international shipping engineers.
No actual; data to support the claim wages are not even keeping up with inflation. Using a Seattle Times article on the last two year union agreement, union wanted 18% increase, WSF offered (I recall) 12% , and mitigated settlement resulted in a 14% increase. Washington State Office of Financial Management recently posted ferry workers also got an across the board wage rate increase of 3% 1 July 2024 … this was in addition to their contract salaries.
I’m clearly data driven., and this article is generalities which might or might not be accurate, but lacking factual data, might be just a case of building the union’s case for the new labor contract.
To me, this indicates that the managements target goals are wrong, as the data indicates that vessels are still very often tied up due to lack of crew. You can compare off shore to deep sea and military however you’d like but it in no way changes the fact that WSF vessels tie up often due entirely to lack of crew. That is a clear and obvious indication that compensation is not enough to get people to do the job
Further, the ten million allocated to put an extra unlicensed person on every watch does not come out to 22 people, as clearly nobody is just working forever. 21 boats x 4 watches = 84 new jobs.
WSF literally does not have that many on calls at the moment, perhaps this new hiring class of almost exclusively wipers gets closer to that goal, but having the “funding” to hire new folks hasn’t been the problem for getting new folks to come in recently if very few people will take the job in the first place. ” We have funding to hire 84 new people ” is in practicality meaningless if there isn’t the folks who actually want to take the job.
Dean Blivens: WSF crew target goals have been in existence for the many years I have been following WSF data. In 2023, their quarterly snapshot showed they added 22 and all 22 were trained and abroad. I can only go by what WSF reports.
Every ferry scheduled has crew assigned. There are legitimate reasons for a crew member not to show up. I think you will find WSF crew numbers are as close to their target goal (1,148 total) as they ever have been. Unlicensed engine room oilers were at 202 with a target of 202. THat’s 100% when I went to school. Licensed Engine staffing was 182 of a target of 200 … that’s 91% of target. BUT … they are only operating 15 vessels of their normal 19 this summer … that’s 79% of normal summer operations. Issue COULD BE one of location. Or it could be negotiation time, and since they can’t strike, they could be do a union slowdown.
As for pay, let”s be informed as to what they are actually making. Good luck trying to get that data. The union contracts are available to the public, so there best available is their hourly rate and all the situations that call for overtime.
National unions asking for raises up to 40% pay increases are likely playing a significant role also.