Minister defends oversized overtime bill for ferry workers

The minister of Transportation and Works says the provincialgovernment is stuck with paying a lot of overtime for ferry workers because of factors outside of its control.

The Sunshine List released last week showed dozens of workers in the province's marine transportation division are almost doubling their pay thanks to overtime.

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For example, a marine cook had a $54,100 base salarybut, once overtime and other payouts were factored in, earned $129,700 last year.

The highest-paid employee in the core provincial government, earning more than any cabinet minister, deputy minister or the premier, was a first-class mate.

The mate's base pay was only $78,400, but overtime brought that total $204,100, nearly triple the base.

Transportation and Works Minister Al Hawkinssays his hands are tied by Transport Canada requirements.

"If someone is off sick on a particular day it's just not a matter of saying, 'OK, we don't have to have someone fill in for you.'We do have to bring someone in because of minimum requirements," said Hawkins.

"Of course, there are other issues too. We always have emergency calls that happen outside the normal working hours."

Hawkins insists it wouldn't be cheaper to hire more workersbecause there wouldn't be enough work to justify additional crews.

He also blames problems with ferries, new and old.

Issues with the new MV Veteran and MV Legionnaire have also driven up the bill, says Hawkins, as other ferries are pressed into service when the new ferries are pulled out for repairs.

Looking for efficiencies: minister

Hawkins says 93 per cent of the cost of ferry service is covered by taxpayers, rather than ferry users.

With the province's current fiscal problems, he says he has to balance the level of service with the cost.

"We have to look at better ways in which we can work within the services we're providing," he said. "People who are living on these islands, they expect a level of service and they deserve a level of service."

He couldn't give any specific examples of places to save, but he says if the reliability of new ferries increases, overtime costs for crews should decrease.