FERRY ALERT: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth continues with 2 boats Sunday because of systemwide ‘severe crewing shortages’

| Fauntleroy | Transportation | West Seattle news

Again tomorrow, the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth state-ferry run will be down to two boats because of what Washington State Ferries calls “severe crewing shortages” systemwide. For the first time we can recall seeing, they’ve published a systemwide alert rather than just individual-route alerts. Here’s the systemwide plan for Sunday:

Anacortes/San Juan Islands – two-boat (rather than three) service
San Juan Islands Interisland vessel – regular weekend service
Port Townsend/Coupeville – one-boat service
Mukilteo/Clinton – one-boat service
Edmonds/Kingston – one-boat service
Seattle/Bainbridge – one-boat service
Seattle/Bremerton – one-boat service
Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth – two-boat (rather than three) service
Pt. Defiance/Tahlequah – service suspended

WSF advises checking schedules here for individual routes and adds, “You can view the schedules for Sunday service by looking for ‘Alternate Service’ next to the route name. Please note that some of these schedules are under the ‘Currently Inactive’ section of the list until the start of the service day on Sunday at 3:01 AM.” WSF says it’ll “add back as much service as possible” if more crew members become available.

SIDE NOTE: This will be the third day of major systemwide service cuts – here’s a breakdown of the first day, Friday, from Seattle Times transportation reporter Mike Lindblom.

Mj October 10, 2021 (9:22 am)

These are decent paying union jobs with good benefits. People working at these jobs can pay rent/save for a home, buy food clothes and other needs and pay taxes.

The King October 10, 2021 (10:34 am)

I’ve actually worked for the state in the past and recently looked into the ferry jobs. The deckhand and similar jobs pay a little over $20 an hour. The job I had for a few years paid $23.86 hr. Now it depends on how your union has negotiated benefits but we were paying out of pocket over $600 a month for the group health family plan, $90 for dental, $330 into your own retirement, we had no vision. After the tax man took his cut it worked out to a little over $2000 a month and we were paid once a month. I suppose you could save to buy a house if it were in Arkansas or Missouri but rent in Seattle would take most of that pay. People have a misconception of govt jobs, it’s not all high paying with Cadillac benefit plans. That was back in the 70’s and 80’s.

Brian October 10, 2021 (9:29 am)

“It’s unacceptable that these unauthorized actions are impacting people’s daily life when ferry service is reduced,” Inslee wrote. The term “unauthorized actions” refers to any misuse of personal leave, an Inslee spokesperson said.Uh, how exactly do you misuse personal leave? It’s for business of a personal nature.

Auntie October 10, 2021 (10:42 am)

You misuse personal leave by over-using it. I have worked with people who took more personal leave than was allowed in our contract, yet complained when they were called on it. Taking excessive personal leave puts the onus of work on your co-workers or makes it difficult for business owners to run their business because you are unreliable.

Neighbor October 10, 2021 (10:17 am)

Times are crazy. I was reading a job posting for an “entry level” job in my field. To apply they required a professional certification. That certification requires 5 years of supervised (by a certified professional) job experience before you are approved to sit for a series of exams. Once passed, you’re certified.

Nevertheless, for ease I’ve attached the links.

On-call Deckhand (certifications required):
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/wsdot/jobs/3265455/on-call-deckhand-21-4?page=5&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

On-call Terminal Attendant:
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/wsdot/jobs/3265458/on-call-terminal-attendant?page=5&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

Rick October 10, 2021 (10:39 am)

I think more of an issue of how it’s used and for what purpose as opposed to whether it’s owed or not. Maybe a restructuring of contracts etc. might be in order to help prevent disruptions in the future.

HTB October 10, 2021 (11:42 am)

Unauthorized personal time? Is that code for using vacation or sick time due to not wanting to get vaccinated?

TN October 10, 2021 (2:58 pm)

You know what?…. S@rew Covid and everybody getting into everyone else’s business. YOU (not necessarily you HTB) have no right to MY personal private medical information. Just as no one has any right to assume what one does with their personal time… It’s PERSONAL time… It is part of MANY employment packages. You may be given PTO. That’s Personal Time Off – wanna use it to protest orange man? OK – go for it…BLM yep! Use it to protest a mandatory vaccine mandate?? REEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
- Jort October 11, 2021 (10:30 am)
  
  Uh ……. …. what?

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