{"id":47551,"date":"2019-05-07T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/union-to-rally-for-ferry-funding\/"},"modified":"2019-05-07T15:39:59","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T23:39:59","slug":"union-to-rally-for-ferry-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/union-to-rally-for-ferry-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Live: Rallygoers fight for ferry funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t

12:55 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The rally has mostly wrapped up at this point. Read our full coverage here: As final budget decisions approach, ferry supporters flood Capitol steps<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

12:45 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Graeme Johnson of British Columbia’s ferry system says the BC ferries were privatized 16 years ago and fares raised by 70 percent in the next 10 years. It cost the province’s economy $2.7 billion in that time. He said things have turned around and the ferries are working better now, but it took 16 years to recover.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

He led the crowd in a quick call-and-response cheer, saying, “When our ferry system is under attack … ” and the crowd responding, “We stand up and fight back.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t