As under-staffed ferries cut runs, leaders from Maine islands urge Mills to step in

File photo / Laurie Schreiber Bicyclists and pedestrians are the first to board the ferry to Swans Island.

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Ferry cancellations, largely due to understaffing, are disrupting life on Maine’s unbridged islands, where residents are missing mainland appointments and activities and businesses aren't receiving deliveries on time.

But even “with a rash of vessel mechanical issues earlier in the year and an unusually high number of employees out on family or medical-related leave, most islands have seen very little impact on their regular schedules” thanks to the efforts of Maine State Ferry Service staff, Bruce Van Note, commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, wrote in a June 28 letter to Maine State Ferry Service staff.

Because of its two-boat schedule, Vinalhaven’s “second boat” has taken the brunt of cancellations, he noted.

“Since May 1, we have had over 80 cancellations to the regular Vinalhaven schedule," Van Note wrote. “Such irregular service is disruptive and has a significant impact on the island, especially now that we are in the summer season.”

He continued, “We are tackling our crew staffing challenges on several fronts and I have asked for creative ideas and options to meet our duty to run our regular schedules.”

Islanders request

Select boards and ferry service advisory board representatives from the island communities of Frenchboro, Matinicus, North Haven, Swans Island, Vinalhaven and Islesboro are asking Gov. Janet Mills to “become personally involved in ensuring the Maine State Ferry Service is able to perform its scheduled runs to each island,” they wrote in a joint letter.

“As we understand things, the principal problems are hiring and retaining ferry crew members,” the letter says. “The challenges to hiring and retaining crew include both rates of pay and meeting U.S. Coast Guard licensing requirements.”

Islesboro leaders added that goals include attracting new workers and retaining existing staff.

The letter asks Mills to direct senior staff to find a solution to the pay problem, and to talk with Coast Guard leaders about the possibility of temporary license waivers for some positions.

Ferry cancellations and closed terminals have persisted over the past two years, despite crews working extra shifts, according to a news release.

The Maine Department of Transportation, which operates the Maine State Ferry Service, also received a petition addressed to Commissioner Bruce Van Note and signed by over 200 community members in the ferry service’s service area, asking him to get the ferry service back on track.

The petition says the reduced runs put islanders at risk when they need to travel for medical care, and that family members can be left stranded and unable to return home. Local businesses and the tourism industry are also harmed.

“Our neighbors who work for the Maine State Ferry Service deserve a living wage that can support them and their families, particularly when the cost of living and housing scarcity pose such challenges to retaining experienced crew and staff along the coast and on Maine’s islands,” the letter says.

Last week, the union that represents ferry service workers received a proposal from the Maine Bureau of Human Resources that outlined a recruitment and retention incentive program that would be in effect through the end of the year.

But the union — Maine Service Employees Association, Local 1989, of the Service Employees International Union — rejected the proposal because it didn’t provide pay raises or structural changes the union said are needed to address understaffing and low pay.

“While on the surface it sounds like a good incentive, there are too many restrictions to this proposal,” said Jason Hall, a union member and a Maine State Ferry Service able bodied seaman. “For example, it penalizes anyone who takes vacation before the end of the year, or employees who might need to use their earned paid time off.”

A 2020 study showed that on average, state workers are paid 15% less than their private sector counterparts.

The ferry service is having trouble staffing at the level of able bodied seaman and as of May 30 had six of those crew out due to family or medical leaves, according to a note posted at the time by Bill Geary, the service’s director.

The service held some interviews for the position, but its offers were declined, he wrote.

DOT response

In a follow-up email to Mainebiz, the DOT said the Mills Administration has negotiated multiple contracts since the 2020 market pay study that have significantly impacted state employee wages.

“Since 2019, the Mills Administration has increased wages by at least 24.1%, and for those at step 8 this is 29.1%,” the DOT said. “In addition, all of our ferry service personnel are hired at step 8, (and will move into a negotiated 4% higher new top step 9 on their anniversary date) and their wages include stipends that have been negotiated through a statutory process in response to the recruitment and retention challenges of the positions.”

As of July 1, ferry captains are earning at least $92,976, which includes an additional 3% stipend; ferry engineers earn more than $73,000, which includes an additional 21.5% stipend; and ferry able seamen earn more than $58,480, which includes an additional 30% stipend.

Other ferry position stipend examples include:

Deck hands: 5% stipend
Ordinary seaman: 15% stipend
Port engineer: 9.5% stipend
Assistant port engineer: 9.5% stipend

MSFS service employees will move to the newly negotiated 4% higher step 9 on their next anniversary date; employees with at least five years of service earn additional longevity pay; and most MSFS employees earn time and a half for any overtime hours worked (for example: ferry able seamen currently earn $42.28 per hour for overtime work).

“Earlier this summer, we engaged a second maritime staffing agency as a short-term solution to improve the reliability of the second boat to Vinalhaven,” the DOT said. “We continue to work on longer-term solutions.”

It continued, “employees can take two or three weeks of vacation between now and the end of the year and still qualify for the full incentive amount.”

A proposal also includes moving captains to an overtime rate that is 150% of their base hourly wage and moving several other MSFS positions to an overtime rate that is 200% of their base hourly wage.

“Maine’s island communities are an important part of our state, and we understand how much the cancellation of a ferry run can impact the lives of the people who call our island communities home,” the DOT said. “We are committed to continuing to work collaboratively to try to address this issue.”