Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Oct 17/05) - Ferry service resumed in Fort Simpson Friday, as striking employees protested the use of replacement workers to fill their jobs.

Rowe's Construction, the company that holds the ferry contract, locked out the six ferry crew members who went on strike last Wednesday after the Canada Industrial Relations Board deemed the ferry operation a non-essential service.

Under the watch of nearby police, replacement workers negotiated the gauntlet of picketers in order to get the ferry started on Friday afternoon.

"Scabs! Scabs! Scabs!" hollered Anne Juneau - a regional representative with the union - through a loud speaker. She cautioned the replacement workers that they're not likely to find work on another unionized ship in Canada.

One of the replacement workers, alluding to stranded residents in Fort Simpson, shot back, "You're holding a gun to the head of 1,000 people."

There was a line of 15 vehicles waiting to board the ferry on Friday afternoon. It marked the first time anyone was able to drive in or out of Fort Simpson since the ferry crew members walked off the job on Oct. 12.

Some of the motorists were bound for Yellowknife to take in the George Jones concert. Others, like Hay River's Ross Papirnick, were heading home to spend the weekend with family.

"It's a free country. Everyone's got a right to do what they've got to do," Papirnick said as he observed the unrest from his vehicle.

Inbound tanker trucks were idling on the other side of the river.

The picketers slowed down the vehicles as they embarked and disembarked, passing out union literature.

Owen Rowe, an owner of Rowe's Construction, said the river shuttle will run daily from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. He referred other questions to his company's lawyer, Bob Watson, in Manitoba. Watson could not be reached for comment.

Jean Francois Des Lauriers, regional vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said of the lock-out: "The only thing that changes is that it's no longer our choice to go back to work."

Word came later in the day that the federal government has appointed a mediator to help settle the labour dispute. Both sides may return to the table as early as this week. The ferry workers are seeking their first collective agreement, in which they are demanding a raise of more than 30 per cent, improved benefits and job security.

"It is positive," Des Lauriers said, referring to news of a mediator being named. "Anything that can move this process forward would be great."