Catalina Cruises Ferryboat Workers Back at Work as Strike Ends

Nearly 50 crew members and officers of the largest ferryboat service between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland returned to work Monday, ending a two-month-old strike against Catalina Cruises Inc.

Negotiators for the company and the Inland Boatmen’s Union reached agreement Saturday on a new five-year contract, and union members ratified it that night.

The new contract calls for a 7.5% pay cut in the first year, but current pay levels will be restored by the end of the fourth year of the agreement, according to Sam Sacco, a spokesman for the company. In the fifth year, workers will receive a 2.3% pay increase from the current level.

For example, a deckhand who was earning $14.33 an hour before to the strike will now make $13.26 an hour. In the fifth year of the contract, he will get $14.65.

Bob Forrester, a union spokesman, said he was satisfied with the new contract despite the pay cut.

The company, citing growing competition, originally had asked for a 15% pay cut, while the union opposed any cuts. The new contract also eliminates overtime on Sundays and double overtime on holidays.

“I don’t like taking the cuts, but it seems to be the trend,” Forrester said. “Both sides felt the effects of the strike, both sides did what they had to do. They took such a strong stand in the begining (of negotiations) that we believe we got back more than we expected.”

Sacco said nearly 70 employees who had been hired to replace the strikers have been laid off.

He said the strike, which began Aug. 1, had little effect after the first few days on the company’s operations. The company’s only competitor, Catalina Express, has non-union employees but charges slightly higher fares. It ferries San Pedro-to-Catalina passengers on smaller but faster boats than Catalina Cruises.

“This is the first strike in Catalina Cruises’ 15-year history and we’re pleased that it has ended, and with the new contract,” Sacco said. “We believe we have a contract that will enable us to more effectively compete in the next five years.”

Catalina Cruises announced recently that it plans to begin a San Diego-to-Catalina run next summer. The company currently has daily departures to Catalina from Long Beach and San Pedro on 145-foot, 700-passenger boats.

A new company, Catalina Cruisin’, hopes to get the edge on the San Diego-to-Catalina runs by beginning service later this month.