Yesterday the WA ferry system (largest in the nation - if you don’t know about it, it’s far larger than you imagine) was absolutely crippled by an unofficial sick-out of engine room employees. Why not a strike? WA ferry employees are not legally allowed to strike.
Twenty-three engine room workers called out of work Monday, causing major disruptions because the workers are essential to normal ferry operations. Thousands of people across Puget Sound rush to find alternate routes amid the stopped service.
Sources who spoke to KING 5 on the condition of anonymity said Monday's actions were in response to the state not awarding raises or cost-of-living adjustments to engine room workers represented by the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, or MEBA, following arbitration.
Engine room workers represented by MEBA were awarded 0% increases under their two-year contract, a source told KING 5. The union subsequently went to arbitration but was not awarded additional increases.
Then this from our Governor, a guy I mostly support,
In a post on X, Gov. Bob Ferguson confirmed that ferry service should be returning to normal Tuesday.
"Good news — our ferries are back in action and operating normally with just a small number of cancelled sailings this morning due to absences from last night," Ferguson wrote. "I appreciate the hard work of our Washington State Ferries staff, and look forward to continuing our partnership to improve our ferry system
"As always, my door remains open to discussing those issues, and I remain committed to improving staffing levels," Ferguson said. "That said, causing significant harm and inconvenience to the people of Washington state is not the way to address those issues."
Given that the point of this unofficial action was to draw public attention and force management/electeds to pay attention - sounds to me like fucking worked.
