Washington State Ferries Tried To Turn You On Their Workers By Posting Eye-Popping Salary

Ferry service has returned mostly to normal after 23 ferry engine room workers called out sick, shutting down 13 out of 18 vessels on Monday. While there’s no official confirmation workers coordinated these absences to flex their collective power to their bosses, Washington State ferries appeared to try and squash sympathies for the union ferry workers by publishing the tippy top of their highest paid worker’s possible salary if they were constantly overworked: $350,000.

This strategy worked to stoke jealousy rather than solidarity with some Washingtonians, but others didn’t fall for the spin. After all, some engine room workers make just $65,000, they typically make less than their peers above deck, and those making the big bucks are being run ragged. 

The ferry engine room workers are represented by the Marine Engineer Beneficial Association (MEBA) under two separate labor contracts, one for the higher paid licensed engineers and unlicensed jobs including oilers and wipers, which still require training and credentialing. 

According to the unlicensed workers’ 2025-2027 contract, the lowest paid worker in the engine room, a wiper who has worked less than 1,044 hours with the employer, makes $31.57 an hour. That comes out to about $65,000 a year in base pay. Other unlicensed workers in the engine room make slightly more, but overall engine room workers make 20% less than their counterparts on the ferry decks, which amounts to a huge drag on morale. 

The six-figure salaries Washington State Ferries flaunted online comes from the licensed workers. According to the licensed workers’ 2025-2026 contract, the highest paid union worker in the engine room, the Staff Chief Engineer, makes $81.42 an hour. That comes out to roughly $169,000 a year in base pay. Then, if they work overtime, that worker can earn 1.5 times their salary. 

It’s possible that a Staff Chief Engineer could make $350,000 after overtime just considering raw numbers, not scheduling logistics, physical limitations of the human body, and the fact that workers would like to have a life in addition to employment. Back of the napkin math shows a Staff Chief Engineer would have to work almost 70 hours a week, or 30 hours of overtime, to make that $350,000 figure. 

And 30 hours of overtime every week isn’t exactly a treat. The union told the Seattle Times that some workers are clocking in about that much overtime, a level a representative described as “abusive.” According to the union, the state has only been staffing to hit minimum, legal safety standards. If someone calls in sick, Washington State Ferries relies on volunteer overtime, though previous contracts mandated a standby to fill in. 

With engine room workers burning out, people call in sick and others are also too tired to step in. This has led to thousands of cancelled sailings per year. As national union secretary treasurer Roland Rexha told the Seattle Times, the ferry system is “held together with gum and duct tape.”

If 29 workers calling in sick can cancel most of your operations, maybe Washington State Ferries should spend less time trying to paint them as whiny, spoiled brats on social media, and more time addressing their valid concerns — before workers catch another bug.