Alcatraz City Cruises workers strike
Four-hour Unfair Labor Practices strike underscores worker frustration with ‘employer stalling tactics’
Workers at Alcatraz Cruises represented by the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific (IBU), the Marine Division of the ILWU, went out on an Unfair Labor Practices strike on Saturday, May 25. The workers voted by an overwhelming 91% majority to authorize the strike. The unit includes captains, officers, deckhands, food and beverage workers, mechanics, and ticket takers.
The four-hour strike began at 8:30 a.m. at Pier 33 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The picket line was joined by members of the ILWU family including Locals 10 and 6 along with other community supporters. Key issues still to be resolved at the bargaining table include wages, dependable work schedules, and improved benefits.
Fed up with stalling tactics
Workers say they are fed up with the stalling tactics of the employer who they say is not making a serious effort to reach a fair agreement.
“We’ve been at this for over two years,” said IBU President Robert Estrada. “It started with the company spending tens of thousands of dollars on anti-union consultants. Despite that, workers voted with a 90% majority to join the IBU in 2022. Since then, we’ve been trying to negotiate a contract and the company is only willing to come to the table about twice a month—the bare minimum to be within the law’s bounds. The unwillingness of the employer to bargain in good faith is becoming clear to the workers. Ultimately the decision to strike was worker-driven.”
Fighting for area standards
Alcatraz is the most visited National Park in the country. The National Park Service has granted Alcatraz Cruises the lucrative contract granting them exclusive rights to run ferry service to the island. Estrada said workers only ask that the employer meet the existing area standards upheld by every other ferry service on the Bay. “Blue and Gold, Golden Gate, Red and White, and Prop SF all have fair contracts with their workers and are all very successful companies,” Estrada said.
Tristan Senft a First Officer at Alcatraz Cruises and member of the bargaining committee said workers are tired of the games and delaying tactics by the employer. “We are tired of the company’s ongoing Unfair Labor Practices. We’ve been trying to work with the company to resolve ongoing issues but they are unwilling to work with us,” Senft said. “We would have preferred not to take this action but felt like we had no choice. Until our rights are respected, our concerns are heard, and we have a contract, we will continue to take action.”
Community support
A delegation from the Filipino Community Center came out to support the IBU and their fight for a fair contract
“When Filipinos working on container vessels dock in ports like Oakland we have seen ship-to-shore solidarity and understand how important it is,” said Terry Valen from the Filipino Community Center. “During COVID a lot of seafarers were trapped on ships and the ILWU and the ITF came out to support those workers. The workers here at Alcatraz Cruises are fighting for a fair contract and we want to come out in solidarity and support. As Filipino community organizers, we are fighting for the rights of workers everywhere.”
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin was also there in solidarity to back the union workers. He addressed the workers on the picket line saying, “This is a working people’s waterfront. It has been for a hundred years, and it is time for Alcatraz Cruises to stop stalling.” Peskin has been a consistent supporter of Alcatraz Cruise workers and has spoken in support of the union at a number of rallies.
