Wolfe Island Ferry workers say they aren’t at fault for staffing shortages – Kingston | 24CA News
Frontenac Islands Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers may solely categorical frustration and concern after the newest disruption in service, which shut down entry to and from Wolfe island for 13 hours in a single day Sunday into Monday.
“It is not working. It’s costing us business, economic development, tourism,” Greenwood-Speers stated.
Tweets from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation blamed a staffing scarcity — one thing president of OPSEU native 428, Jody Pringle, says is an ongoing downside due to pay
“We need to up the wages to try and keep people,” Pringle stated.
He represents ferry staff for the Wolfe island, Amherst and Glenora ferries. He says wages and advantages usually are not aggressive with the personal sector the place staff could make as a lot as $850 a day.
“We’re not looking to get $850 a day, we’re just looking to find something in between there that works for both sides to retain people.”
Pringle says psychological well being is a rising situation for staff as nicely and could also be contributing to absences, including that ferry workers are bearing the brunt of peoples’ frustration over the ferry disruptions.
“Peoples’ lives are being threatened. You know, people say, ‘I’m going to shoot you, I’m going to stab you.’ They’re being heckled, screamed at, given the finger on a daily basis.”
Global News reached out to the Ministry of Transportation for feedback on the staffing shortages, however no response was obtained by deadline. Frontenac Islands mayor and council have despatched letters calling for the minister to get instantly concerned to resolve the problem.
It’s a name that has been echoed by MPP Ted Hsu.
“I’ve been trying to contact the minister’s office over and over again to see what kind of update she got and what she might be able to do. I haven’t got any reply yet but I’ll keep trying to contact her.”
Hsu says he’s additionally been working with different MPPs going through comparable points with MTO staffing of ferries.
In the interim, for those who use the Wolfe island ferry, the query is much less will there be one other ferry shutdown however when.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
