The ferry workers’ latest contract expired Dec. 31, 2021. The county offered workers a two percent increase in wages for 2023 and 2024, although other county departments received three percent increases. Ferry workers voted Feb. 8 - 12 to reject this offer.
The rejected 2023 wage increase would increase the starting wage by 43 cents an hour. Over the past 12 years, the starting hourly wage has increased $2.95. The starting wage was $18.43 in 2009; $19.56 in 2016; $20.15 in 2019; and $21.38 in 2021, according to past labor agreements on file.
Wages have not kept pace with the cost of living in Anacortes, Capt. Guy Mitchell, who represents the union, said. “As a result, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and retain deckhands, and those we do recruit live farther away where housing is more affordable. One consequence of that is it takes longer for us to respond to after-hours calls, something that sincerely concerns us as maritime professionals.”
The current starting hourly wage at the ferry, at 40 hours per week, equals $44,470 a year. The average income in Anacortes in 2017-20 was $46,107, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
As of this writing, the ferry has 16 crew members, six of whom are credentialed merchant mariners. Full time: one captain, one mechanic, and two purser-deckhands. Part-time: two captains, two purser-deckhand II’s (qualified to serve as captains), and three purser- deckhands. On-call: Five purser-deckhands.
Crew members help maintain the vessel and the Anacortes terminal building; undergo regular drills in abandoning ship, anchor operation, firefighting, flooding, and overboard rescue; and receive initial and refresher training in first aid, CPR, and hazardous materials handling and shipment.
Ferry crew members are represented by the Inlandboatmen’s Union, or IBU, Puget Sound Region. The ferry is owned by Skagit County and operated by the Public Works Department Ferry Division. The county’s contract negotiators are representatives of Skagit County's human resources department.