A New Bedford-based barge company received approval this week to operate new cargo trips to Martha’s Vineyard.
The Steamship Authority’s board of directors on Tuesday approved 41 North Offshore’s plan to deploy a cargo ship to the island, but limit it to a maximum of one per day.
The new on-demand freight service has raised concerns among island authorities in Tisbury and Oak Bluffs, who fear it could add extra traffic to the busy port of Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs roads.
After reviewing the proposal for nearly a year, Steamship’s Port Advisory Council proposed approving the request from Jonah Mikutowicz, owner of 41 North Offshore, provided the company gave the Steamship Authority 24 hours’ notice of any voyages, maintained all of its properties on Steamship property and limited the number of voyages to a maximum of one per day.
Mr. Mikutowicz had previously said he planned to transport trucks, heavy equipment, manufactured buildings and other cargo to the Vineyard upon request, similar to the service he already operates from New Bedford to Nantucket.
The Steamship Authority, a government-controlled transportation service, issues licenses to other operators in the region who wish to offer ferry and cargo services. For example, the Seastreak and Hy-Line ferries both require licenses from the Steamship Authority.
Steamship Authority staff concluded that the new cargo service would have minimal impact on the shipping line’s operations, and the board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the idea.
The steamship company’s board of directors on Tuesday also reversed a previous vote that tied pay increases for non-union staff to the weighted average wage of unionized workers.
In June, governors approved a 5 percent pay raise for nonunion employees. The board also decided that nonunion employees who sign collective bargaining agreements with unions should receive the same raise as their counterparts.
But Steamship Authority lawyer Terence Kenneally said Tuesday there were legal and ethical concerns about combining the union and non-union groups. For example, Mr. Kenneally and other senior staff would be involved in union negotiations, and if the unionized workers got a big raise, in theory they would get one too.
“My recommendation and that of the rest of the bargaining group is to eliminate or repeal this part of the vote so that we can focus only on the compensation of non-union members themselves … so that we are spared the specter of unfair treatment,” Kenneally said.
Following the termination of the tying agreement, the Board approved a further 5 percent wage increase for non-union employees, excluding Steamship’s executives.
