"Throughout the last five months, the district has failed and continues to fail to negotiate in good faith," said Dave Nolan, head of the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association. "Round after round of negotiations have not resulted in a fair contract for our workers."
The strike against the ferries, which have weekday ridership of about 7,500 from terminals in Larkspur and Sausalito, will take place from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Bus service will run as scheduled, and officials with the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District are encouraging commuters to ride-share or telecommute.
Ferry service to tomorrow's Giants game has also been canceled, and heavier traffic is expected on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ferry captains and deckhands, along with bus mechanics, ironworkers and structural engineers, have been working without a new contract since July 1. The dispute centers around wages and health care contributions and led earlier this month to a one-day walkout by union machinists.
Nolan said the unions have filed an unfair labor practice against the district, which rejects the charges and says it has made a series of compromises to try to reach an agreement. In a blog post last week, the district called the labor actions "totally unwarranted."
"Our ferry captains are the highest-paid captains on the bay," said the district's general manager, Denis Mulligan. "We have been negotiating in good faith with them. Both sides have made concessions. We have tentative agreement on numerous issues, and there's only a couple of outstanding issues."
Mulligan said another round of talks was scheduled for Monday.
Some commuters disembarking midday Thursday from a Golden Gate boat at the San Francisco Ferry Building said they planned to work from home Friday, adding they were sympathetic with the workers.
"If I had to pay a buck more each way to hook those guys up with more health benefits I'd be OK with that," said Jeff Baumgarten, who drives from Novato to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. "These guys keep us safe every day. I just hope they get it settled fast."
"The ferry crews do work very hard under oftentimes difficult circumstances, and I appreciate their efforts. It's a difficult and sometimes dangerous job," said Bob Kerns of Corte Madera, who rides the ferry four days a week. "I believe they should be getting a fair shake."
Other ferry services hastened to alert the public that they will not be affected by the Friday strike. San Francisco Bay Ferry, which runs service between Vallejo, Oakland, Alameda, San Francisco and South San Francisco. will be running on a normal schedule Friday, as will the Blue & Gold Fleet's Tiburon ferry.
