6319 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Titanic had a massive crew-to-passenger ratio.

Still didn’t help.

[max.bravo]

IIRC their lifeboat to passenger ratio was sub optimal as well…

[Victoria Watcher]

Crew shortages could cause cancellations during BC Ferries’ summer peak season

The company said it is facing recruitment challenges

https://www.campbell...er-peak-season/

“Higher than expected retirements in key shipboard positions, the impact of vaccination policies and difficulties recruiting international candidates due to COVID-19, as well as the 25-year global shortage of professional mariners are expected to pose ongoing challenges to hiring sufficient employees for what is expected to be a busier than usual peak summer season,” the independently managed private company said in a news release Friday, March 25.




I guess it’s hard to adjust when a “25-year global shortage” suddenly hits.

The new 500 P & O crew members are making £ 5.15 an hour. No shortage there.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2022 - 03:16 PM.

[max.bravo]

I know several qualified mariners who are on unpaid leave from bc ferries due to vaccine mandates. Most of them are engineers who don’t interact with public. At this point these people will never be vaccinated. These vaccine mandates have got to go. Let’s get people back to work. The vaccines don’t even prevent transmission, what is the point? To cause inconvenience to the traveling public?

Edited by max.bravo, 25 March 2022 - 04:30 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

I know several qualified mariners who are on unpaid leave from bc ferries due to vaccine mandates. Most of them are engineers who don’t interact with public. At this point these people will never be vaccinated. These vaccine mandates have got to go. Let’s get people back to work. The vaccines don’t even prevent transmission, what is the point? To cause inconvenience to the traveling public?

 

Who ever would have guessed, when the government controls the means of production, the bread lines would be so long?  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2022 - 04:37 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

“They did not give a tinker’s toss about any of us,” he said, noting there were people with health issues and young families left to sit in cold cars and wait. “All they were concerned about was it’s just 12 cars and 21 people, so who cares — they can be two and a half hours late.”

 

McPhee said the passengers eventually got back to Pender after 11 p.m.

 

https://www.timescol...hortage-5232806

[James Bay walker]

 These vaccine mandates have got to go. Let’s get people back to work. The vaccines don’t even prevent transmission, what is the point?

The vaccines keep our healthcare system functional by making dealing with covid manageable, by NOT swamping our hospitals and particularly the ICU departments. 

 

Vaccinations greatly lessen the impact of covid, allowing would be hospital patients to manage just fine by isolating at home instead of clogging our hospital system.

 

Drop the vaccine mandates and watch our healthcare system sink into oblivion and chaos  soon after.  I do wish we restored the indoor mask mandate, soon, rather than dithering over that.
 

[Nparker]

90% of eligible British Columbians are vaccinated. I don't see how much more can be achieved through coercion.

[Victoria Watcher]

Crew shortages resulted in multiple BC Ferries cancellations over the weekend and as the Easter long weekend looms, some employees say the cancellations will continue.

“It’s going to get more difficult. We are expecting more cancellations than what currently has been announced,” said Glen, a BC Ferries crew member whose identity CHEK News is protecting.

“It’s going to be a frustrating weekend for passengers.”

The pandemic and a retiring workforce have resulted in crew shortages within BC Ferries, which are now leading to ferry cancellations.

“Crew levels are very low. The amount of relief is very low. And people are burning out,” said Eric McNeely, provincial president of the BC Ferry Marine Workers Union.

https://www.cheknews...o-hire-1010151/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 April 2022 - 01:38 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Trudeau should have offered us a big new electric BC Ferry yesterday.  To be sailing before the next federal election.   The MV Gerald Butts.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 April 2022 - 04:48 AM.

[North Shore]

Quoted from the T/C article above:

 

“BC Ferries has a unique position because they an offer marine workers to go home every night from their job. However, BC Ferries also does not offer a competitive wage worldwide for mariners,” said Glen. “This has been a long-standing policy problem…and it’s finally causing problems in our fleets,” said Glen.

BC Ferries representatives disagree.

“We feel we do have a competitive wage and our benefit package. We do offer a pension and of course medical and dental,” said Marshall.

However, CHEK News confirmed with the BC Ferry Marine Workers Union that the starting salary for a deck officer at BC Ferries is markedly less than industry-standard — ranging from $70,000 to $100,000. On other vessels, the ‘conservative’ going rate is nearly double at $140,000 to $180,000, not including signing bonuses or retention bonuses that many other private companies are offering.

 

If the wages and benefits were competitive, then they'd have a lot of applications and candidates; that they don't says that they're not offering enough in the WaWCON department.

[Victoria Watcher]

I presume it's just people off sick.

 

Back in the olden days, people would mostly still go to work when they had mild flu or a cold.  Now we are told to stay home even if we have the mildest symptoms or suspicion of covid.

 

. 

[Mike K.]

...the ‘conservative’ going rate is nearly double at $140,000 to $180,000, not including signing bonuses or retention bonuses that many other private companies are offering.

 

 

If you factor in the time at sea, sometimes months away from your family and your life back home, those are not necessarily better wages.

 

$70-$100k for mariners at a local ferry fleet with lots of flexibility and room for movement is exceptional. Where else in the world can you do that?

[phx]

How many crew are off work due to the vaccination mandate?

[vortoozo]

How many crew are off work due to the vaccination mandate?

 

At the beginning of January it was reported that it was around 5% of the workforce, or about 250 staff across the organization (not just on-board staff).

Probably less than that now, as the deadlines hadn't passed yet. 5% of BC Ferries workers remain unvaccinated despite vax mandate - North Shore News (nsnews.com)

[Mike K.]

Holy! They have 5,000 employees?

[max.bravo]

Holy! They have 5,000 employees?

That includes summer seasonal labour. But It’s not that surprising- in addition to staffing boats and terminals, the company has to repair and maintain both ships and terminals, significant accounting and IT departments are required, catering, warehousing stores and purchases for the gift shops, commercial services (drop trailers), reservations centre, security (required by TC), corporate services and government/community relations, and probably more. It’s a big operation.

[Mike K.]

Yeah, I’ll say!

[Matt R.]

Don’t they have some claim to fame as the largest ferry service in North America or something like that?

Edited by Matt R., 12 April 2022 - 10:28 PM.

[vortoozo]

Don’t they have some claim to fame as the largest ferry service in North America or something like that?

 

Largest in North America and one of the largest in the world. 

In 2003, WSF were calling themselves the third largest ferry system in the world which means BCF is #1 or #2. WSFlargest.pdf (arlis.org)