BC Ferries

Hmm last time shit hit the fan, response was so-so

Although i feel the accident should have never happened in the first place, how do you feel the response was so-so? I believe that the 2 people who were not found, were not where they were supposed to be. It's believed they may have been on the car deck….hard to look for people who are not in the right spot. Yes 2 people dying is too much though….

In the marine world when you fuck up, things are a ton different then on land. When a boat is on fire, you don't just walk out to the street and call 911 and wait for the fire department. If a boat is sinking you just don't pull to the curb and call BCAA. Also, if you screw up at your job do you have someone wanting to sue your ass for liablility? Do you risk losing your house?

It's hard for ferry workers to find full time work. They tend to work on call and can do so for 10 years or longer. If you payed them crap wages you likely would not find anyone to fill those positions or would end up with people who are un-employable else where in the world.

Also, as more and more of the marine world becomes non-union, you will see the industry become more and more unsafe. In about 10 years time, the marine transport world will be a lot like the commercial tranport industry or the logging industry. Transport Canada does not have the man power to monitor the industry and it will go for shit once all the union workers are gone.

I'll say it again, if your gonna blame the union workers at ferries for the costs being too high, management should be equally to blame.

And why do the employees always seem so miserable?

every ex ferry worker I've talked to claims management makes it brutal to work there.

likely a jaded bunch here, but most say the same thing.

http://www.ratemyemployer.ca/employer/employer.aspx?empID=2472[HTML_REMOVED]l=en

Does anyone know what the "chefs" making my fries and chilli dogs make? And why do the employees always seem so miserable?

The chefs are all Red Seal and sold out from having an interesting career in being a chef to work there.

They also tend to have higher level of responsibility during incidents.

But yea the cost of training everyone to do there MEDs, ship familiarity, and evacuation chute training would be crazy if everyone quit. Oh wait, they do all quit. The year I got hired as a casual they hired 30 people. Everyone is scored and ranked. If you are not in the top 5 employees you will not work your first year. Maybe one shift. As it was, I think I maybe had 10 shifts my first year. The second year wasn't bad. BC Ferries works on a 3 strikes policy. If you are not available to work, i.e. because you had to get another job due to them not calling, you get a strike.

For some reason, they hired another 30 the next year. It's pretty silly. This was Victoria. Oh yea, I was top 5 for what it's worth.

Look it's a crappy job and it pays decent salary. It's easy to make more. Working on the small routes would be enough to make me go insane, because there is very little to do.

Also, cutting salaries of ship board workers is not going to make your fares cheaper.

Didn't something like 98% of the people onboard the Queen of the North survive? That's pretty damn good IMO. It could have been much worse.

considering the two people in the bridge were either f*#king or stoned or whatever to run into the reef without noticing the alarms etc, but won't talk about it due to the recommendation of the union…

We'll never know the whole truth so speculation it is. I just know the coast guard who were nearby basically said wtf?

and it was the people from Hartley bay who did most of the response…

considering the two people in the bridge were either f*#king or stoned or whatever to run into the reef without noticing the alarms etc, but won't talk about it due to the recommendation of the union…

We'll never know the whole truth so speculation it is. I just know the coast guard who were nearby basically said wtf?

and it was the people from Hartley bay who did most of the response…

Totally agree about the log book not being presented as evidence and the officers being allowed to keep there mouth shut and how the accident happened is crap too, but how would being non-union have prevented this accident? how would a lower wage have prevented this? Once the accident happens, the union can only make recommendations or offer legal counsel, I really don't know how they got away without testifying or presenting the log book. The people at blame lost their jobs and I think atleast one is faces criminal charges, so I don't think this is over just yet.I certainly hope it's not over, if it is indeed a case of gross negligence.

So the people from Hartley Bay boarded the vessel and assist with getting everyone off of the boat? As far as I know they assisted once everyone was in the life rafts. The crew did there job….as far as I know, or I've yet to hear different.Having said that, I'm not trying to undermind the fact of what the people of Hartley Bay did. Just your kinda making it sound like the crew did nothing, and I've yet to ever hear anything like that.

oh and ya running into Gil Island is a huge WTF…I think ever mariner on the coast said WTF.

how would being non-union have prevented this accident? how would a lower wage have prevented this?

It wouldn't. In fact I can gaurantee that if it ever came to pass that non-union, unskilled, uncertified employees earning minimum wage were involved in this scenario the loss of life would have been much greater.

I do not have a problem paying someone who is trained to evacuate me $30/hour to sit around waiting for a ship to sink just so they could save my ass. I do not have a problem getting that same person to sell me a ticket or sell me a hamburger when the ship isn't sinking.

I do have a problem with the way the ferries have been run since Campbell set it up as a P3.

Mainly my gripe is with the management of the whole thing.

^^^pretty much sums it up for me…

I can also agree that unions can be bad too…accountability should be held by everyone and being in a union should not duck that.

I do have a problem with the way the ferries have been run since Campbell set it up as a P3.

It isn't a P3, it is a company with one shareholder (BC Government). Previously it was a crown corp.

Edit: http://www.bcferries.com/about/More_Information.html#governance