Washington governor urges full ferry service to resume after engineer sickout disrupts routes
A sudden absence of 23 marine engineers halted most Washington State Ferries on Monday, prompting Governor Bob Ferguson to demand all vessels be back in service by Tuesday morning.
A sudden shortage of marine engineers forced the Washington State Ferry System to suspend service on most of its routes on Monday. The agency said 23 engine-room employees called in sick, leaving 13 of its 18 vessels out of operation. By the afternoon, limited service resumed on some routes, but Seattle-Bainbridge, Edmonds-Kingston and Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth remained cancelled, and other crossings faced reduced schedules and long waits.
MEBA Secretary-Treasurer Roland “Rex” Rexha told reporters the union did not organize the action and described it as an uncoordinated event. He noted that the system relies heavily on overtime to cover staffing gaps, citing more than 100,000 overtime hours logged by union members in the past year.
“One person taking off sick shouldn't shut down the service that people rely on, and neither should 23,” Rexha said.
Governor Bob Ferguson, who met with union leaders on Monday, said the cancellations caused undue hardship for riders and urged a swift restoration of service.
“Causing significant harm and inconvenience to the people of Washington state is not the way to address those issues,” Ferguson said. “My expectation is that every vessel on every route is fully operational no later than the first vessel sailing tomorrow morning.”
Rexha expressed a shared goal of having vessels run safely and on time, though he stopped short of guaranteeing full restoration by Tuesday.
“We want the vessels to run. We want them to run on time. We want them to run safely,” he said.
The dispute also highlighted differing views on compensation. The ferry system posted that chief engineers earn a base salary of $157,000 and can exceed $350,000 with overtime, while the union argued that the figures omitted the extensive qualifications required and that comparable mariners earn higher wages elsewhere. The agency reiterated that ferries cannot operate without qualified engine-room staff and advised riders to check online alerts before traveling.