B.C. Ferries is putting its financial well-being ahead of the health and safety of employees and the travelling public, according to some veteran employees.
Long-term B.C. Ferries’ employees, who work on the busiest routes in the system, said they are stressed out, worn down and concerned about their health and that of the public. Workers who were interviewed asked that their names not be used for fear of reprisal from the company.
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“In my, and most of my co-workers’ opinions, safety is not driving B.C. Ferries right now, the bottom line is driving B.C. Ferries,” said one worker with more than 25 years experience.
All of the employees said there is not enough staff to handle additional cleaning duties required during the COVID-19 pandemic and a travelling public that too often pays little or no attention to safety guidelines such as wearing masks and social-distancing.
They said they have been told B.C. Ferries will not bring on more staff because it does not have the money.
As a result of the pandemic and a massive drop in demand, B.C. Ferries posted a loss of $62 million in the first quarter of this year, which ended June 30.
In its first-quarter results released Thursday, B.C. Ferries said revenue for the quarter dropped by $109 million to $137.4 million as a result of traffic demand falling off by as much as 80 per cent early in the pandemic.
B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said crew levels are set by Transport Canada to ensure vessels have sufficient staff for the number of passengers on board.
“In some cases we are sailing with additional staff,” she said. “I can appreciate that some staff may be fearful. Many people in society are feeling fearful given the pandemic. The pandemic has increased stress levels in many of us.”
Marshall said the company has taken strides to protect staff and the public, noting it announced this week that face coverings would be mandatory on all sailings, and cleaning routines have been “stepped up” since the pandemic started. “If any of our crew have concerns, we ask them to raise it with their supervisor or management,” Marshall said. “We are all in this together and commend the job our front-line staff do each and every day.”
But the employees were adamant more workers are needed. “We need more bodies even if just to monitor people and have them stop roaming all over the boat,” said a worker on the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay route.
The employees expressed frustration at not being able to do much about people not following social-distancing guidelines or wearing masks. Until this week, ferry passengers had to carry a mask with them, but were not required to wear one unless they were unable to social distance. That policy changed as B.C. Ferries announced Thursday that, as of next week, passengers will be required to wear face masks at all times while aboard vessels or inside terminals.
“We keep getting it jammed down our throats that we can’t enforce [the rules], we can only suggest to people,” one worker said.
“To me, it looks like it was before the pandemic. Things are willy-nilly, there is no social-distancing and no one policing anything. Basically, nothing has changed. We have less passengers, but those passengers are not being required to follow the rules I see being enforced in other businesses.”
All of the workers interviewed said they see grocery stores and restaurants enforcing rules and offering extensive plexiglass protective equipment, but there’s nothing like that on the vessels.
“You can really see it when the boat is about to dock,” said one worker, noting while foot passengers are told to remain seated to ensure physical-distancing as they disembark, there is instead a mass grouping of people queuing to get off. “And no one polices that.”
Since B.C. Ferries opened up services such as gift shops and cafeterias and ferry traffic picked up, the workers said, catering staff have been unable to maintain the rigorous cleaning practices they employed early in the pandemic.
“We ramped up cleaning until the cafeterias opened up, now cleaning has dropped off. Now, it may get done once in a shift maybe twice, and instead of cleaning the entire chair we will only clean the arm rests,” said one worker.
Another said: “I find it completely stressful. It’s so stressful, but I don’t have any choice.” The worker said they need the job to support their family.
A worker on the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen route, who has been with the company for more than 25 years, said employees have been frustrated by a lack of clarity and direction from head office, as well as the inability for employees to enforce rules.
“Its tough with the public, the ones that don’t want to oblige and wear a mask when they can’t social distance,” the worker said, adding they regularly deal with incidents of passengers reacting poorly to other passengers not following safety guidelines.
“It’s really wearing on the crew because we are constantly dealing with these kinds of issues. People are getting tired, they are on edge.”
The worker said cleaning standards have slipped. “We just can’t keep up,” the worker said. “We’d like to see more people on the ship to monitor these things. We’ve seen it at other businesses who have had to hire more people — we seem to have gone the other way.”
Graeme Johnston, president of the B.C. Ferries and Marine Workers Union, said the workers’ concerns seem to be universal through the membership. He said there have been multiple alerts raised internally at B.C. Ferries about staffing levels.
“People are saying the workload related to cleaning on top of all other duties is just overwhelming,” he said.
“If our members believe the work they are being asked to do is unsafe, then we would tell them to refuse to do the work.
“We saw that happen during the upswing of the pandemic and I would day it is a very real possibility as we see another upswing of it now.
“Whether that results in a service interruption or not will depend on the response of the employer. But it is a real possibility.”
VANCOUVER – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. says it’s indefinitely curtailing its sawmill in Lake Butler, Fla., by the end of the month.
The Vancouver-based company says the decision is because of high fibre costs and soft lumber markets.
West Fraser says the curtailment will affect about 130 employees, though it will mitigate the impact by providing work opportunities at other locations.
The company says high fibre costs at Lake Butler and the current low-price commodity environment have made it difficult to operate the mill profitably.
It expects to take an impairment charge in the third quarter associated with the curtailment.
At the beginning of this year, West Fraser said it was closing a sawmill in Maxville, Fla., and indefinitely closing another in Huttig, Ark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
