Vineyard SSA Governor Seeks Sweeping Review of License Agreements

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

Alarmed by rising costs and falling ridership on Steamship Authority
ferries, Vineyard boat line governor Marc Hanover yesterday called for a
thorough review of SSA license agreements with private carriers.

"I'm not in favor of giving away one more seat,"
Mr. Hanover declared at the monthly boat line meeting in Woods Hole
yesterday morning.

Concluding his year as chairman of the SSA board of governors, Mr.
Hanover prevailed on his colleagues to renew the proposed agreements for
one year, instead of the three-year contracts recommended by Authority
management.

But Mr. Hanover's argument to hold the line on allowable
capacity failed to carry the day when it came to Hy-Line, a major
carrier on the Hyannis-Nantucket route. The three mainland governors
lined up with Nantucket governor Flint Ranney and agreed to allow
Hy-Line to carry more passengers on its high-speed ferry Grey Lady,
outvoting Mr. Hanover 4-1.

It marked the first split vote on a major policy issue between the
two Islands, which control the board through weighted votes, since Mr.
Hanover and Mr. Ranney joined the board.

Yesterday's meeting also briefly pulled back the curtain on
lengthy contract negotiations between the Authority and its largest
union, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association.

Union representative William Campbell said the unlicensed employees
represented by the unit had rejected management's latest offer by
a vote of 130-0. Mr. Campbell called the proposal little more than a pay
cut. Employees in the largest single bargaining unit at the boat line
have been working without a contract since 2002.

Governors also voted to renew the boat line's support of the
Park and Ride lot in Tisbury for another year. The boat line splits
operational costs for the shuttle service with the Martha's
Vineyard Regional Transit Authority. In the 12 months ending in October,
the SSA contributed $64,210 toward the operation.

The ferry licensing discussion came against a backdrop of flattening
financial performance at the state-chartered boat line, which provides
the only year-round passenger and vehicle ferry service between the
mainland and the two Islands.

SSA treasurer Robert Davis reported yesterday that net operating
income came to $5 million for the first 11 months of the year, about
$1.5 million lower than expected.

The news led Mr. Hanover to stake out a harder line than recommended
by senior managers on the license renewals.

Three companies - Freedom Cruise Line Inc., Cape and Islands
Transport Inc., and Hyannis Harbor Tours Inc., commonly known as Hy-Line
- requested multi-year renewals.

Freedom, which operates a seasonal ferry between Harwich and
Nantucket, asked for a three-year renewal but no increase in passenger
capacity. The board voted to renew the license for one year, and
removed a three per cent cap used to calculate license fees.

Cape and Islands Transport, which operates the seasonal Pied Piper
ferry between Falmouth and Edgartown, asked for a three-year renewal,
and also asked to increase capacity on its last trip off-Island on
Sundays and holidays from 95 to 149, and to run an extra trip off-Island
on Sundays and holidays as needed.

SSA managers recommended against the increased capacity, but
recommended a regularly scheduled extra trip on Sundays and holidays.

The board voted for a one-year renewal, but will allow no increase
in the level of service.

But the discussion took a turn in a new direction when it came to
the Hy-Line request.

The Hy-Line application requested the freedom to carry up to 298
passengers on all trips on its year-round Hyannis-Nantucket high-speed
ferry Grey Lady. The vessel is currently limited to 149 passengers on
most trips. The company also asked to use the high-speed ferry Lady
Martha in place of a conventional ferry on seasonal inter-Island service
between the Vineyard and Nantucket.

SSA managers recommended allowing the Grey Lady to carry up to 200
passengers, even though they conceded the move would siphon revenue from
the boat line.

"The increase will serve the public by providing them greater
access to a reliable means of transportation that may be much more
convenient for them than the Authority's vessels and the
airlines," SSA general counsel Steven Sayers wrote in a staff
summary.

Robert Jones, chairman of the boat line port council, said the
council backed the increase in capacity, but only after prolonged
discussion.

"We realize ridership is down on the Steamship," Mr.
Jones said. But he said the council also saw Hy-Line as providing a
solid year-round service to Nantucket.

By allowing the Grey Lady to carry more passengers, Mr. Jones said,
"The Steamship would have to competitively go out and fight for
the ridership. Sometimes competition is better for the public than
controlled competition."

Touching on the sore subject of the boat line's high-speed
ferry Flying Cloud, which has been plagued by mechanical problems and is
now slated for replacement, Mr. Ranney quoted Nantucket port council
member Nat Lowell, who said: "Hy-Line is the fast ferry lifeline
to Nantucket."

Mr. Ranney said he was prepared to recommend a three-year renewal
with a one-year review, but Barnstable governor Robert O'Brien
said Hy-Line should receive the same one-year renewal as the other two
carriers.

Mr. Hanover stood his ground on the subject of capacity.
"I'm not going to vote for increased capacity," he
said. The Vineyard governor said he would agree to allow the high-speed
ferry to operate on the inter-Island route.

But the other members declined to break the Hy-Line request into
separate pieces, saying it constituted a package.

In the end governors agreed to grant Hy-Line the 200-passenger
capacity on the Grey Lady for one year in a 4-1 vote.

Also yesterday, Mr. Campbell rose to take issue with what he called
the threatening tone of a letter sent by Authority general manager Wayne
Lamson to union employees.

"Is this where you want to get into this?" Mr. Hanover
asked Mr. Campbell. There were no more comments in open session on the
issue.

In the letter, Mr. Lamson wrote in part: "Nothing we are
proposing at the bargaining table will change the fact that the
Authority is a good place to work, with good-paying jobs and benefits.

"With our proposed new wage rates, ranging from $18.39 to
$23.77 per hour, you will continue to be among the highest-paid sailors
and marine oilers in the country . . . . But in order to preserve these
high wages, we have to begin to rein in some of the more expensive and
wasteful practices and conditions that have flourished over the
years."

Management wants union members to pay five per cent toward the cost
of their medical coverage, agree to make work rules more flexible, and
reduce or eliminate premium pay for work performed during regular
watches.

Mr. Campbell said the offer effectively represents a pay cut to his
membership. "They just want a fair contract," he said.