SEATTLE — On a foggy day in the Puget Sound region, you’ll often hear the region’s signature sound of a ferry horn.
But on this foggy day in West Seattle, drivers and passengers instead heard the voice of a dockworker named Tiffany.
“Sorry, no boat today,” he could be heard saying repeatedly to drivers near Fauntleroy. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
That’s because of what the Washington State Ferry System has described as a massive illness. The WSF said 23 engine room employees called in sick Monday morning. The agency said it was looking for qualified aid workers to fill the vacant positions, but every employee qualified to fill them declined. At one point, the agency said 13 of its 18 active vessels were out of service.
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As of Monday afternoon, some service had returned, but the WSF travel bulletin still listed Seattle-Bainbridge, Edmonds-Kingston and Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth as out of service due to lack of crew. Mukilteo-Clinton and Seattle-Bremerton operated with a single boat, and the WSF warned of an estimated two-hour wait for drivers leaving Mukilteo.
In the San Juan Islands, the WSF said the Chelan and Yakima are expected to resume limited evening service. Samish’s remaining sailings after the 5:35 p.m. departure from Anacortes have been canceled. WSF said dispatch continues to try to fill vacancies and will provide updates as conditions change.
MEBA Secretary-Treasurer Roland “Rex” Rexha, who met with Gov. Bob Ferguson on Monday, told KOMO News the union did not organize any pressure tactics.
“The union took no action today,” Rexha said. “This is in no way a coordinated effort.”
Rexha said the ferry system has become too reliant on overtime to fill a shortage of marine engineers, a problem he said began before Ferguson took office. He said one member worked more than 1,800 hours of overtime in the past year, while union members collectively worked more than 100,000 hours of overtime to fill the staffing gap.
“One person taking sick leave should not end the service people rely on, and neither should 23 people,” Rexha said.
Ferguson said he met with local and national MEBA leaders Monday morning and heard concerns about staffing. The governor said he remained committed to improving staffing levels, but criticized the effect of cancellations on passengers.
“Causing significant harm and inconvenience to the people of Washington state is not the way to resolve these issues,” Ferguson said. “I was very direct in our meeting: I expect every ship on every route to be fully operational no later than when the first ship sails tomorrow morning.”
Rexha said he agreed with the goal, but did not guarantee the system would be fully restored.
“We want the ships to work,” he said. “We want them to run on time. We want them to run safely. I think we all have the same goals here.”
Asked if he expected every route to be operational Tuesday morning, Rexha said, “I hope so and I intend to. We anticipate everything will work out the way they’re supposed to.”
The conflict also revealed deep differences over wages and working conditions. In its social media posts Monday, the WSF highlighted compensation for chief engineers, saying they have a base salary of $157,000 and can earn more than $350,000 a year with overtime, as well as sick leave, vacation and retirement benefits.
Rexha called the post “passive-aggressive” and said it omitted the required qualifications of engineers. He said chief engineers can spend 15 years working to fill the position and hold U.S. Coast Guard licenses. He also argued that ferry management failed to properly conduct a prevailing wage survey required by state law and that comparable sailors earn more elsewhere in the industry.
“We want to be partners in this. We want to find a solution,” Rexha said. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that ferries run on time and safely.”
WSF said ferries cannot operate without required positions in the engine room being filled. Passengers can view online travel alerts and the agency’s real-time map before heading to a terminal.
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