Staff at Hullo Ferries, the passenger ferry service that operates between Nanaimo and Vancouver, voted on Friday on whether to unionize.
The results are expected to be known by next week.
The online vote on joining the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union wrapped up Friday afternoon for about 80 employees working onboard the service’s two vessels and at terminals in Nanaimo and Vancouver.
To be successful, 50 per cent plus one of voters must be in favour of joining the union, said Eric McNeely, union president.
If the proposal passes, the union would meet with the Vancouver Island Ferry Company, operator of Hullo ferries, to negotiate a first contract.
The company’s two ferries are based at the Port of Nanaimo.
The certification vote does not apply to staff in the head office in Nanaimo, McNeely said.
This summer, Hullo Ferries marked its first year of operating walk-on passenger ferries between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver.
In 12 months, it carried about 400,000 passengers on about 3,000 sailings, the company said. The service offers up to 14 sailings a day, along with special late-night sailings to accommodate passengers attending sports events and concerts in Vancouver.
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