From the Penticton Herald, today:

A four-letter expletive ended talks aimed at bringing peace between BC Ferries and its union — and better service for travellers. It was Nov. 28, and union leader Eric McNeely had just logged in to a video conference call with two company executives.

The stakes were high. The company and the union had accused each other of intransigence and lying in a series of memos to employees. The meeting ended badly.

McNeely said he left the call after Dean Dobrinsky, the corporation’s executive director of labour relations, told him and another union official to “just shut the fuck up.”

And with that the labour dispute escalated. For months, BC Ferries and the BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union had tried to negotiate a wage hike they both agreed was needed to end an exodus of staff.

https://www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/article_d8858334-bf95-5202-a387-9582ca4648a9.html

From the Seattle Times in December:

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/use-passenger-boats-to-ease-wa-ferry-crisis/

As far back as 2015, from the Scottish Financial News:

Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) has become the latest Scottish business and the UK’s first ferry operator Living Wage employer. The firm said the accreditation has been earned by David MacBrayne Limited – CalMac’s parent company – and demonstrates the company’s commitment to its 1450-strong staff, many of whom live and work in remote and/or economically fragile areas around the Scottish west coast.

https://www.scottishfinancialnews.com/articles/caledonian-macbrayne-becomes-scotlands-latest-living-wage-employer

The last CalMac industrial action? Called off by the RMT in July 2015 before any strikes.