‘Stoking anger, fear, and frustration’: Union files Labour Relations Board complaint against BC Ferries

The union representing BC Ferries staff is seeking damages, after it alleges its employer “undermined the bargaining process” and created a hostile environment within the union.

Eric McNeely, president of BC Ferries Marine Workers Union, says the union is seeking $2.1 million in damages. He says the union’s largest grievance is with how BC Ferries bargained behind its back, and then accused it of failing to approve a proposal that the union itself put forward.

“For over a year, the employer bargained directly with a faction of the union’s members and without the union’s awareness,” the union’s official complaint to the Labour Relations Board states.

Selective housing stipends “sew discord”

BC Ferries began offering housing stipends to employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in agreeance with the union, was supposed to have removed all stipends when public health restrictions were lifted.

However, in November 2022, the union says it became aware its employer had continued to offer housing stipends to employees in remote regions, despite knowing it could not offer the service universally.

Upon the union discovering this, it entered into negotiations with its employer to provide a more equitable housing stipend. After a series of botched negotiations, in which the union says the employer walked out of negotiations, the employer sent notices in November to employees receiving housing stipends that their accommodations would end on Dec. 31, 2023. Employees living in the employer’s accommodations were given the option of moving out or paying market rent for their place, the complaint states.

The complaint states that employees receiving housing stipends received notices from BC Ferries stating that the two parties were close to an agreement which would “…provide an equitable payment to every employee who permanently lives in the remote location” and provide “monthly accommodations payments as high as $500/month to these employees.”

But, it concluded that it was “…disappointed to advise that the Union did not agree to this proposal.”

However, the union states the company’s notice is filled with inaccuracies, such as that the proposals were the company’s idea, not the union’s, and that the union turned down a proposal. In its complaint it states it’s inaccurate to make it seem like the union walked away from negotiations and the inaccuracies in the notice “sew discord” within the union.

Additionally, the union’s collective agreement states that it should have received a copy of this notice before it was sent to employees.

In a statement to CityNews, a BC Ferries spokesperson said the company was aware of the complaint.

“While we’re aware of the complaint and will be responding to it, there is a limitation to what we can say right now as the matter is now before the Labour Relations Board,” the spokesperson said.

Wage talks break down simultaneously

At the same time, the union states negotiations about the housing stipends also unfurled as the two parties were in talks to negotiate wages, which, again, ended with the employer blaming the union for a lack of an agreement on this topic before the holidays.

“The employer’s actions were designed to persuade the members that the union is responsible for the cessation of non-bargained benefits and the absence of wage increases,” the complaint states.

“The employer misrepresented the negotiations that occurred between the parties and cast the union as callous and uninterested in its members’ interests, stoking anger, fear, and frustration in the union’s members and pitting them against the union and each other.”

McNeely says this complaint is important because the union’s bargaining committee, who should have been consulted about the housing stipends, is elected through a democratic process and is there to ensure every employee’s needs are equally considered. He says when BC Ferries began bargaining with members directly, any sense of fairness was lost.

To work through these issues, McNeely says he’s reached out directly and made himself available to BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez for discussions.

“I think as leaders of our two organizations, there’s an opportunity to do what we can before the holiday season concludes,” McNeely said.

According to a BC Ferries spokesperson, it’s currently in the middle of an arbitration process with the union to determine wages in 2024, and the timing of that process is determined by the arbitrators.

“We are looking forward to a good outcome for our people and having this process complete in the New Year when the arbitrator panel makes its ruling,” the spokesperson said.

Broken down, the $2.1 million the union is asking for includes $100,000 in damages for bargaining directly with employees, $1 million in damages for defamation and $1 million in damages for the damage caused to the relationship between the union and its members.

The complaint has not yet been heard by the B.C. Labour Relations Board.

-With files from Cole Schisler

This article has been updated to reflect that the timing of the arbitration process is determined by the arbitration panel.