Long weekends are some of the busiest and most stressful times for ferry and marine workers. While most people are travelling, taking breaks and spending time with family, our members are working long hours behind the scenes to keep passengers, cargo and communities moving safely.

To every member working through the Victoria Day long weekend, thank you.

British Columbia depends on your skill, professionalism and commitment every single day.

The union hall will be closed Monday, May 18. If an urgent workplace issue or collective agreement violation comes up, please contact your local representative directly.

 

In 2018 my husband had been working for the ferries for about four years. He kept telling me it would be a good idea for me to start at the ferries as well, especially because we were thinking about buying a house.

At the time, I was working in health and wellness, which I have a passion for but going from house to house, gym to gym, client to client was getting real old real fast. I had moved from Calgary after living in Australia for a year, so I was in a chapter of getting myself back together, personally, spiritually and financially.

A couple of years in, trying to make it work , COVID hit. During that time I was working for an online counselling company as their Health & Wellness Consultant, but it wasn’t sustainable for me. I really missed interacting with people in person.

So, finally when my husband mentioned BC Ferries again…this time I was more open. I applied and now here I am! When I started, it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the people I was working with. It’s a fast-paced environment, which I like, and just being on the water, you look out and think, “This is my office, every day.” You can’t beat that.

One thing passengers don’t realize is the intense hours we work. At Departure Bay we are on duty for 10-hour shifts. People are always surprised by how early we start or how late we work and that the majority of us are flipping from one shift to the other frequently.

Another thing that passengers are surprised to hear is how much training and certifications we have to have to work on the boats. From getting our seafarers’ medical to all the safety training we have to acquire before even being able to start our first official shift! This includes passenger management training, how to operate our deployment system and how to fight a fire. I am an OFA (Occupational First Aider) so this is another certification I must renew every three years. It’s a lot but I am also very grateful for it.

Something that really surprised me is how people don’t respond in an emergency. They just sit there. So you’re not just dealing with the situation, you’re also trying to get people to follow procedures and to convince them that there is an actual emergency we have to respond quickly to.

Even things like when we tie up or there are delays, people don’t always understand that those decisions are for safety. There’s a whole system behind every sailing most people don’t see.

One of the things I’m really proud of is bringing my wellness background into the ferries. When I worked up north for a couple summers, I started offering restorative yoga to the crew on my off time. I was on the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m shift, and I’d start a class around 8:30 at night for whoever was off. I usually had at least seven people, and up to 12 one time, which was a  great turnout. At the end of the summer, I was humbled by the amount of thanks I received from the crew, not only for the yoga I hosted but for also making delicious, creative and healthy salads. It was wonderful to be able to bring my experience of health and wellness to the crew on board. Living on a boat for two weeks at a time can be tough, so anything that can help make people feel healthy and rested is incredibly important. I am grateful I was able to help fulfill that need for a couple of summers.

When I was on M Watch at Duke Point. I had talked to my chief steward, Mike, about doing stretches during our five-minute meetings if there was time, and he loved the idea. So I started doing that pretty regularly. At first some people were a bit resistant, but most people got into it after a bit.

One morning, I was exhausted and thinking, why am I even doing this? Why am I getting up at silly o clock just to serve bacon and burgers? When we got into the  Tsawwassen dock, Mike led the 5 minute safety meeting as usual but then started talking about how much the stretching had made a difference for the crew. He then handed me a laminated certificate he had made, stating “World’s Best Stretcher Teacher Award”. I almost cried. It was really good timing. It felt like a sign to just hold on and keep going.

I originally got into yoga after I fractured my sacrum snowboarding. Nothing else was really working for me at the time to heal it. I tried physio and other things, but when I found restorative yoga, it was the first time I didn’t feel the pain. That showed me how important rest is, and since then I’ve been a big advocate for the recovery and rest cycle of our lives. The majority of us just push through the fatigue, but it’s just not sustainable  and a big safety concern for situational awareness, injuries, bad judgement calls, disrespect in the workplace and, simply put, for our longevity and health.

Working on the ferries, my biggest challenge has been fatigue. The schedule is hard. When you don’t have a consistent sleep schedule, it really messes with your body, your eating patterns, stiffness and pain, emotional regulation and mental clarity. Lack and inconsistency of sleep and deep rest affects all areas of life and health. I used to work out, stretch and meditate because I loved it. Now I have to, because if I don’t, I can’t function properly at work, physically, emotionally and mentally.

When it’s busy, especially at Duke Point, there just isn’t enough crew for how much work there is. People are tired, and that’s part of why people take time off or get injured. They are simply worn out and exhausted.

If I could change one thing, working at the ferries it would be a more consistent schedule. Even if it was still 10-hour shifts, something like 10 to 8 every day would be ideal for me.

It would be good if there was more communication to passengers about what we actually do and what goes into running the ferries.

And I definitely think there could be more focus on wellness for the crew. Other companies have wellness programs and support, and I think there’s room for that here.

BC Ferries is a great place to work, but there are some really tough things you have to manage day to day. And when people do say thank you, or take a genuine interest in our well being, it really does mean something.

Oh and just in case you are wondering, yes that is me on the stretching posters that are posted up around the boats ;) Give it a try, you might just feel good because of it.

Samantha Waagenaar, OFA catering, Local 2

 

On April 28, workers across Canada pause and remember those who never came home from work.

One of them was our member, Kenny Chohan. Kenny died in June, 2020. He was working alone, doing repair work on a ferry at Deas Dock, BC Ferries’ fleet maintenance unit.

As he was working, he leaned over the edge of an embarkation ramp to retrieve an item from the water: the barrier gave way. He fell into the Fraser River and drowned.

No one noticed he was missing until his family called to ask why he hadn’t come home. His body was found the next day.

His death was preventable.

WorkSafeBC found multiple failures. The guardrail had been replaced with fabric webbing and was held in place with zip ties and bungee cords. It couldn’t withstand the weight of a person leaning on it. There was no proper safety procedure for retrieving objects from the water. There were no effective inspections. No hazard assessment. No supervision. Even basic systems, like confirming workers had safely left the site, were not used.

WorkSafeBC fined BC Ferries more than $670,000. That was in 2022. It is now 2026, and BC Ferries is still fighting to have it waived.

BC Ferries’ argument hinges on the fact that Kenny was not wearing a personal flotation device, as required. But this, again, is a supervision and enforcement issue. In high-risk work environments, it is employers, not workers, who are legally responsible for making sure safety rules are followed. Employers must provide appropriate protective equipment, make sure workers are trained to use it, enforce its use and supervise work to ensure compliance.

Since Kenny’s death, there have been other serious safety incidents at BC Ferries. Workers injured when equipment failed, thrown from rescue boats during drills, and unsafe procedures flagged, but not fixed. When something goes wrong, the standard response is delay, deflect, minimize. Too often, the focus shifts to blaming the worker.

Workers should not have to rely on luck, workarounds, or personal judgment to stay alive on the job. Safety is a system and that system is designed, enforced and maintained by the employer.

Ferry workers operate in high-risk environments every day. They manage marine and passenger safety, including fire response and emergency evacuations. They keep vessels running in rough conditions, under pressure, with thousands of people depending on them. They deserve systems that protect them.

Kenny Chohan should have come home. His family should not still be waiting for closure.

Safer workplaces don’t happen on their own. They are built by workers, unions and the broader labour movement pushing for better standards and real enforcement. BC Ferries and the province have a responsibility to meet that standard, not fight it.

Eric McNeely, president, BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union