Calling his testimony a "victory," Bernard "Rambo" Gauthier took the stand Wednesday at the Charbonneau Commission for a second time and made no apologies for his behaviour.

The union chief admitted that he did intimidate contractors, but said his goal was always to get the best working conditions for members of his local union.

Gauthier said his tactics may have been brutal, but they were necessary to ensure would-be workers didn't sell themselves short in order to accept a paying job.

He also said he was very opposed to the idea of worker mobility, and the regulations which allow construction workers to work anywhere in the province.

Gauthier said there was nothing wrong with his ordering a construction site foreman not to touch equipment, saying allowing anyone but a unionized worker to do so would be eliminating jobs.

Throughout the day Gauthier's "the ends justify the means" attitude led to several confrontations with the leader of the corruption inquiry Justice France Charbonneau.

"Do you think it's strange, to look for work and to find jobs for workers?" demanded Gauthier at one point.

"No," replied Charbonneau. "But I find it strange to order extra workers when it's not needed, when one person can work."

"We don't do that. We only insist upon the workers that are needed," said Gauthier, a statement which directly contradicts what multiple business owners and investigators have said during the inquiry.

Tried to downplay actions

When it came to his personal actions Gauthier downplayed his role, saying that while he often spoke loudly he rarely yelled.

"It's better to be calm," said Gauthier. "Sometimes when I speak I open my eyes wide."

"When you have 150 people behind you with wide eyes, that's intimidating," said Charbonneau.

"You tell people if things don't get settled your way, you won't be happy," said Charbonneau. "That's a threat."

The inquiry then confronted Gauthier with wiretap evidence of him making threats, presenting a conversation where he said "I'm going to break your teeth."

Gauthier was forced to admit that was a threat, but claimed he had been set up by someone.

“My delegates have my cell number, then I leave,” said Gauthier, who also said when it came to intimidation on work sites against outside workers, he was the one calming down angry mobs.

He also denied that police are afraid of him.

“If they’re afraid of me it doesn’t show because of all the tickets I get,” said Gauthier, who blamed the media for his bad-boy reputation.

Gauthier's union local is known to defy even his own FTQ-Construction president and internal guidelines.

“I might have a boss on paper, but my real bosses are the workers I represent,” said a defiant Gauthier.

“You organize demonstrations for the unemployed, you have a short fuse with employers, and you don't even respect your own collective agreement,” co-commissioner Renaud Lachance said.

“I'm aware of it,” said Gauthier, “but it doesn't put any bread and butter on the table of my struggling workers.”

Gauthier’s testimony is expected to finish Thursday.