Washington State Ferries.

The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division, or Washington State Ferries (WSF), operates and maintains ferry vessels; constructs, operates, and maintains terminals; and acquires vessels.  The WSF maintains a fleet of 21 ferries that carry passengers on 10 routes between 20 terminals.  The WSF has nearly 2,000 employees.

The WSF employees have collective bargaining rights and bargain with the state over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.  The employer, for purposes of bargaining with the collective bargaining representative of ferry workers, is the state.  The employer is represented by the Governor or their designee.

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) produces a salary survey of public and private employees who perform directly comparable but not necessarily identical work to WSF work groups for use in bargaining negotiations.  For this survey, the OFM considers employees along the west coast of the United States, including Alaska, and British Columbia.

Interest Arbitration.

The WSF employees have interest arbitration procedures to resolve impasses over contract negotiations which cannot be solved through mediation.  Under interest arbitration, an impartial third party makes decisions regarding the unresolved terms of the contract.  There are statutory procedures for parties to select arbitrators and factors the arbitration panel must consider when making its decision.

Washington State Ferries.

When producing a salary survey of public and private sector employees whose work is comparable to WSF employees, OFM must contract with a nationally recognized human resources management consulting firm which has experience with conducting compensation surveys.  The final, unredacted salary survey must be made available to all bargaining parties by April 1 of each even-numbered year.  While gathering data for the survey, the OFM must seek input from employee organizations.  The OFM must also consult available collective bargaining agreements, as allowed under law, when determining the wage scales for July 1 of the ensuing year. 

For deck department, terminal department, engine room, and all other covered employees not specifically listed, the survey must compare the wages, hours, employee benefits, and conditions of employment of WSF employees with public and private sector employees in states along the west coast of the United States, including Alaska, and in British Columbia doing directly comparable, but not necessarily identical, work.

Certain WSF work groups must be compared with specifically enumerated groups of employees as follows:

• The survey for masters and mates must include comparisons with business entities whose operations include the movement of unlimited tonnage vessels, in the designated pilotage waters of the states along the west coast of the United States, including Alaska.
• The survey for engine room employees must include comparisons with private sector shipping employees, and public sector employees on the east coast who operate double-ended vessels with similar horsepower that carry more than 2,000 passengers.
• Trade employees at the Eagle Harbor Shipyard Facility must be compared with public and private sector employees in the Puget Sound region, including the:  Port of Seattle maintenance facility, Port of Tacoma maintenance facility, King County maintenance facility, and state prevailing wage rates for shipyard and building trades employees.

Interest Arbitration.

If WSF employees and their employer go to interest arbitration, the arbitration panel must consider the wages, hours, employee benefits, and conditions of employment of those public and private sector employees as described above.

(In support) The ferries struggle to have sufficient employees to comply with Coast Guard requirements.  This means that workers are putting in a lot of overtime and vessels sometime cannot sail.  This is a competitive marketplace for a highly trained workforce, and the WSF pay does not compete.  Newer recruits do not have the skills needed.  Skilled mariners go to private employment or better paid public systems.  The current salary survey is not looking at the right comparable employees and is outdated.  The new survey gives WSF the tools it needs to be competitive in the market for skilled mariners.

(Opposed) None.

(In support) This bill will help fully staff the ferry system.  Ferry workers are not able to take on additional overtime and competitive wages are needed to attract and retain staff.  The Legislature has done a similar adjustment to bargaining language for the Washington State Patrol.  Many people and government agencies are interested in having a stronger ferry system with more reliable service.  Crew shortages force cancellations and leave people on islands stranded.  There is a worldwide shortage in marine engineers and the WSF competes with the private industry for highly trained staff.  Engine room staff are working excessive overtime and this bill will address compensation issues and help attract and retain staff by requiring the OFM to look at a broader comparison group.  Masters and mates are not being compared to comparable positions and this bill will require a more correct comparison group.

(Opposed) None.

Representative Jake Fey, prime sponsor; Chris Schneider; Greg Poor; Nick Twietmeyer; Eric Winge, Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association; Felix Tapley; Dan Twohig, Masters, Mates & Pilots; and John Traynor, washington state labor council, afl-cio.

Representative Jake Fey, prime sponsor; Amy Drayer, Islanders for Ferry Action; Eric Winge, Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association; Nick Twietmeyer, Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association; Chris Schneider, Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association; Dan Twohig, International Association of Masters, Mates and Pilots; and Felix Tapley, Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association.