LETTER: Act Now to end the Cable Ferry Strike that puts residents’ safety and wellbeing at profound risk
By Letters to the editor
To: Andres Barker, Associate Chair, BC Labour Relations Board
Dear Mr. BarkerMy name is Jana Malinek and I am a senior resident of Glade, BC. I am appalled and deeply concerned about the impact of the recent decision by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board (LRB), Kootenay Lake Ferry Division (Western Pacific Marine Ltd., 2024 BCLRB 180) on our ferry-dependent community. The LRB’s decision to dramatically restrict cable ferry service to a combination of scheduled crossings and on-demand for eligible ESO residents imposes huge risks to the health, safety, and wellbeing of community members, as follows:
- Risks to Safe Traffic Flow:
The LRB has failed to consider the impact and confusion of forcing vehicle traffic into the 16 scheduled crossings, even as eligible residents will be permitted to cross on demand, as defined under the LRB Essential Services Order (ESO) ruling.
- Our narrow two-lane roads have no shoulders and the road on the west side of the crossing has a steep uphill slope, a rail crossing, and eventually meets Highway 3, connecting Castlegar and Nelson.
- Some working residents need to get to their jobs, and they will feel they must boat over to their vehicles parked on the west (Highway) side. This will add to the congestion and the risk, since there are no private docking facilities on our stretch of the river.
- Pedestrian traffic will increase significantly, with many of our residents forced to make the journey in the dark hours on these short days.
- Many community members ineligible under the ESO will face extended wait times in cold vehicles and/or on foot, without access to washroom facilities.
- In some of these cases, adult carers of elderly relatives or children may be left stranded. This is likely when the ferry is over-capacity on a scheduled run.
- Risks to Health and Wellbeing:
- Many residents not eligible for on-demand under the ESO work irregular shifts. They will face protracted working days as they try to time crossings effectively for themselves and also for family members, some of whom are covered by the ESO.
- We learned during the COVID pandemic that extended isolation, especially with no end in sight, heightens the risk of mental illnesses and emotional reactions and increases all forms of unhealthy stress.
- Some community members are planning to use private boats to cross the River, which will heighten the risk of accident and injury due to fluctuating water levels and fast current. This will be worsened by Winter conditions.
- Residents will not receive mail or vendor deliveries of necessary items to support their lives. So this decision will have rippling impacts that further isolate and compound these threats–well beyond the scope of a labour dispute.
- Pharmacy visits and prescription orders are excluded from ESO eligibility, which poses health risks to residents who generally fall outside the ESO designation.
- I urge you to act now to address these unprecedented risks to our health and safety.
Although it was used to strengthen the recent amended LRB application, the Adams Lake (BCLRB B150/2019) decision was not implemented. The current action therefore stands as a truly unprecedented threat to communities served by the cable ferries. I appreciate that the LRB has issued a Stay Order pending an upcoming hearing and I hope my concerns will be addressed, however, I am deeply concerned that if this decision is upheld and implemented, our community will experience irreparable harm.
A ferry disruption every few years poses a recurring, long-term existential threat, and may not necessarily expedite a resolution to the dispute between the parties involved.
We did not make this fight, and we are not taking sides. Only residents in our community face the crippling risks to health, safety, and wellbeing outlined in this email.Only residents fully grasp the vital link that our on-demand cable ferry provides all day, every day.It is entirely unacceptable that the decision makers at the LRB, the Union, and the Employer will be able to attend to their daily routines largely unaffected, while residents in isolated rural communities must accept unreasonable risks every day until they settle.
Please uphold the trust we have placed in your leadership. I urge you to act now to help resolve this crisis and demonstrate that you will, in fact, protect our safety and wellbeing.
Thank you for considering my perspective,
Respectfully,
Jana Malinek
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