The mayor of Fogo Island says the strike by ferry captains will be devastating to them and Change Islands. Their service is being reduced to one trip per day, but Mayor Wayne Collins wonders if truckers will even go there knowing that they’ll probably be spending two days on the island.
An essential service ferry schedule is being put in place this morning as there was no movement with the deal between the provincial government and the Canadian Merchant Service Guild.
The guild is the union that represents the province’s intra-provincial ferry captains.
The deadline for the agreement, which was initially set for August 21, was moved to today.
Mayor Collins says tourism was just beginning to rebound from the COVID slump, and that one ferry run per day won’t come close to handling demand.
He’d like to see the government hire a private operator to provide an additional couple of trips per day.
Meanwhile, residents of Fogo Island say there was already a line-up at 3:50 p.m. for Wednesday morning’s run.
As for Bell Island, there will be two round trips in the morning and two for the suppertime commute.