The ferry crisis in the San Juans ratcheted up to a new high last week when the #4 Inter-Island M/V Tillikum was idled for almost two full days – across morning and evening watches —due to crew shortages. COVID was one reason given by a Washington State Ferry employee to this reporter for the insufficient staffing.

On Tuesday, the #3 M/V Chelan – a 43-year old vessel – went out of service for half the day due to mechanical issues.

The Sheriff’s Office dispatched deputies to check on WSF parking lots as there were reports of customer tempers boiling over. Sheriff Eric Peter said there were no interventions of law enforcement reported.

At the same time, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association held a press conference Tuesday, Aug. 6, at Colman Dock in Seattle. Several WSF chief engineers and oilers read speeches about how hard their conditions are, including excessive overtime. Their principal complaint was a major discrepancy in the pay the state’s Office of Financial Management has granted captains and what is being offered engineers.

The OFM is the agency in state government that enters into contract with labor unions.

Roland Rexha is Secretary Treasurer of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association. He came to Seattle from his office on the East Coast to passionately advocate for the WSF engineers. His comments delivered from the sparkling new Colman Dock in Seattle Tuesday were reprised in a Friday news release.

“The state is refusing to address glaring pay inequities for Washington State Ferry engine room crew,” Rexha said. “They have no problem spending billions of taxpayer dollars on new terminals and electric ferry boats that won’t be in service for a decade, but ignore the obvious need to provide competitive wages for the crew they need to run ferries. Their offer would take these highly trained and experienced crew members backwards; it’s a slap in the face. Bargaining revealed the disrespect the state has for the essential crew responsible for operating, repairing and maintaining ferry vessels – jobs no one else is qualified to do.”

When Rexha was asked by a Journal reporter Tuesday why the OFM is offering so vastly much less to the engineers compared to the captains, he finally answered, “I don’t know.”

Back in the inter-island waters of the San Juans, by the end of Tuesday Tom Bridge – operator of the water taxi service that has been picking up some of the slack when WSF service fails – crossed the 700-mark in passenger trips served since he began moving people between the islands 11-1/2 months ago – when WSF service collapsed during the end of the 2023 San Juan County Fair.

The pace of Bridge’s rescue trips has exploded since May. Bridge has supplied more passenger trips in the past two months that he had in the previous nine. Most passengers pay $40 for a trip between islands; tourists pay $60. Some local residents pay for the trip with a travel voucher they obtain from Richard Uri with San Juan County government. The capacity of Tom Bridge’s boat is just six passengers at a time. Bridge is a Coast Guard licensed captain.

By the end of Tuesday, many people in the San Juans began to seriously worry if the ferry chaos this year could do even greater damage to the 2024 County Fair here, which runs Thursday, Aug. 15 through Sunday, Aug. 8.

On Wednesday, San Juan County Council chair Jane Fuller hit the send button on a request for enough funds to stand-up walk-on ferry service and small barge service in the San Juans to mitigate the damage when WSF service fails here.

Fuller made big waves nine days prior when she proposed to her colleagues on the County Council that they bypass WSF management and bypass 40th District State Senator Liz Lovelett and State Representatives Alex Ramel and Debra Lekanoff and go straight to Governor Jay Inslee with a request that he declare WSF to be in a state of emergency in the San Juans. Her two “seatmates” agreed.

Fuller consulted closely with WSF Ferry Advisory Committee chair, and Orcas Island-based Community Water Taxi member Justin Paulsen in crafting the ask of the Governor. Paulsen also happens to be running for County Council district 2.

By Wednesday, Paulsen’s election opponent Rick Hughes had reached a point of deep frustration with WSF in general and with the strife between the Governor’s OFM and the M.E.B.A. union. Hughes advocates a holistic approach to improving the entirety of WSF, but by Wednesday his patience ran out and he began to speak bluntly for the need for the state’s executive branch and M.E.B.A. to come to terms on a contract immediately.

Meanwhile, WSF was putting the finishing touches on an announcement they’d been working on for days.

Thursday morning, everyone was surprised when WSF Director of Planning John Vezina delivered a message that WSF had arranged to send four extra vessel employees to be put up in a Friday Harbor hotel in case they might be needed to keep ferry service running during the fair.

In written remarks, Vezina said of the ad-hoc placement of four extra crew in a local hotel for Fair week, “This was a group of committed professionals thinking outside the box on ways to ensure our San Juan Island customers and their livestock – can travel with confidence next weekend.” He held it up as an example of WSF management commitment and creative thinking. In the San Juans, it seemed to be universally accepted as a major positive gesture from WSF.

But larger realities were looming. On Friday, time ran out for negotiations between the OFM and M.E.B.A. and the state made its offer to the engineers. Apparently deeply dissatisfied with the state’s offer, the union will vote on the offer within the next two weeks. Engineers do not have the option to strike. An impasse would put the matter in the hands of an arbitrator.

Phillip Anderson is staff chief engineer on M/V Tillikum. In written remarks Friday, he said, “We can’t keep going like this – working 100 hours of overtime a month, and having zero time with our families. It’s unsustainable and frankly, it threatens the safety of vessel operations. The public is angry and they have a right to be – but they may not understand that dependable ferry service depends on having highly trained marine engineers on every shift. We are 40-50 crew members short and we’ll never boost our numbers without competitive pay for this industry.”

By the end of the week, the San Juans had the assurance of extra WSF staffing meant to ensure smooth service during the fair. But it is still not a guarantee there won’t be canceled sailings during the fair.

And by the end of the week, WSF still lacks a pay package that satisfies engineers. Nor does our County government have an answer from the Governor on its proposal for supplemental service proposed by the County Council.