Hundreds of laid-off tradespeople gathered in East Saint John on Saturday morning to protest being replaced by out-of-province workers at the liquified natural gas terminal project.

It is the latest in a string of protests in the past couple of months.

About 25 police officers were on hand on Bayside Drive as the protesters chanted "Go home scabs" to busloads of primarily Alberta-based workers headed toward the terminal on Red Head Road.

'It kind of came as a slap in the face — to do the finishing touch, if you want to call it that, without using the people who put their blood, sweat and tears into the project.'— Mike Duncan, laid-off electrician

The officers had to coax the protesters off the road to let the buses pass. It was the second morning this week police had to be on hand to ensure protesters didn't block traffic.

The $1-billion terminal, which officially opened Sept. 24, is the first to be built in Canada and the first land-based LNG-receiving and re-gas terminal built on the East Coast of North America in 30 years.

Most of the protesters, who started to gather at 5 a.m., are union members who were laid off after building the first two enormous liquified natural gas containment tanks at the terminal owned by Irving-Repsol, he said.

"It kind of came as a slap in the face — to do the finishing touch, if you want to call it that, without using the people who put their blood, sweat and tears into the project," said Mike Duncan, an electrician who worked on the LNG project for about a year but was laid off in June.

SNC Lavalin, the company hired to manage construction, laid off many of the workers in September, and an Alberta company was hired to build a third tank, bringing in workers from that province.

Fears about future projects

Dave McCormack, a laid-off pipefitter, worries that Alberta workers will get all of the work for future projects at the liquified natural gas site.

"I've seen the blueprints for tank four and five, and there's also a co-generator, a power plant, and that's quite big," McCormack said. "It's going to take a lot of construction workers, labourers — you're looking at a lot of money leaving New Brunswick."

He and Duncan wonder how housing and transporting workers from Alberta can possibly save the company money.

They suspect SNC Lavalin may be cracking down on unions, trying to get concessions on the cost of labour for future projects.

The project has been plagued by labour disputes.

Less than a month ago, on Sept. 17, a judge granted an injunction, ordering protesters to stay away from a local hotel, where many of the out-of-province workers were staying.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has called for cooler heads to prevail.

The facility, located along the Bay of Fundy, will provide natural gas to homes, businesses and industry in Canada and the northeast U.S. through a 145-kilometre pipeline.