Bellingham-Alaska service cut off by ferry worker strike

A strike by workers at the Alaska Marine Highway System left passengers stranded and led to at least two cancelations of trips to Bellingham.

Steve Caswell learned of the strike after he arrived in Bellingham on Friday to take the Columbia to Skagway.

"We're from Idaho so we came about five, six hundred miles over here and this is when we first found out about it," Caswell told KIRO 7. "We've got thousands of dollars worth of reservations up in Alaska."

Members of the Inlandboatman's Union of the Pacific walked off the job Wednesday, forming picket lines in front of the ships.

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On Friday morning, the ferry Columbia should have arrived in Bellingham, carrying Tye Lippincott's friend Jen from Juneau.

"It just breaks my heart," Lippincott said. Lippincott is getting married Friday.

Her friend is stuck in Ketchikan, about to miss the wedding.

"It's very upsetting. We don't know how she's going to get home or to Washington," Lippincott said.

Travel plans are disrupted for many people.

Kris Symer of Tacoma planned to take a state ferry from Haines to Juneau.

"We made other plans to take a small plane," she said.

Jessica Levings is stuck in Ketchikan with three young kids.

She had to put her car on a barge to Seattle.

"It is super frustrating. It's just, what are you going to do?" Levings said.
          
The strike comes after long contract negotiations failed between the union and the State of Alaska.
          
Tensions rose even more earlier this year, when new Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed shutting down state ferry service entirely to save money.
          
Instead, Alaska lawmakers funded reduced ferry service for next winter.
          
Full service this summer was continuing until the strike.

Cox Media Group