Chris Gregoire signed a bill that will sever all ferry captains from their union, the Masters, Mates & Pilots, effective July 1, 2013, and requires a new election for union representation.
Despite receiving veto requests from union leaders and rank-and-file members across the state, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday signed legislation into law that decertifies the ferry captains’ union at the Washington State Ferries and requires them to go through a new election process if they want to retain union representation.
ESSB 5742’s sponsor, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island), originally proposed taking away many of the ferry workers’ contractually negotiated benefits, mandating minimum 8-hour shifts, imposing new restrictions on overtime pay and other restrictions on collective bargaining. That legislation was decried by the Washington State Labor Council as a “blunt instrument that takes out a decade of frustration on the wrong people, tramples on fundamental workplace rights, and circumvents the collective bargaining process.”