Intimidation, a strict code of silence and strange requests for lunch were all on the table Tuesday as the Charbonneau Commission heard more about operations at Quebec construction unions.
Yet another construction company manager is describing how unionized workers from the Quebec Federation of Labour's construction unit would threaten and intimidate others until they got their way.
Rock Savard is part-owner of a construction firm that has worked all over Quebec, and he said working to fix a road for the Ministry of Transport north of Quebec City in 2005 was the worst experience he's ever had.
Savard said that he often hired workers from several unions to be on his projects without any problems at all, until he showed up with his crew at a job site where FTQ-Construction union rep Bernard "Rambo" Gauthier wanted to muscle in.
According to Savard, Gauthier did muscle in, bringing 100 goons to the worksite on the first day.
"They were putting on a show, but it was stressful," said Savard, who sent his employees home to protect them.
Savard tried to negotiate with Gauthier to keep his own picked employees, but gave in to threats and hired the QFL-Construction employees.
When asked by the Charbonneau Commission if it was common to buy labour peace this way, Savard replied, "I don't know how to answer."
By giving in to Gauthier once, Savard was forced to comply again in the future, in one case hiring a mechanic he did not need because the union "wanted to give the kid a chance."
Savard said that in other regions of Quebec he had pleasant interactions with employees, and never faced the intimidation he faced in Quebec.
However when pressed, Savard said he never filed a police complaint against Gauthier and his crew.
"It was not a pleasant way to live," said Savard.
France Charbonneau asked the contractor why he didn’t call police, and Savard’s answer highlighted another problem in the construction industry: a code of silence, that including illegal drug use on construction sites.
In future work on the North Shore, Savard found that union demands hiked prices by 5 to 10 per cent.
One of those demands was for hot soup at lunchtime.
Savard said he was forced to hire a union worker to drive 90 minutes each way to buy and transport soup -- a demand that he never encountered anywhere else.
Though one might be tempted to assume these tactics were part of the competition between construction unions, eager to look after their own, the commission revealed Tuesday that unbeknownst to their members, large unions also cut secret deals among themselves.
Electricians, for example, unionized with the Quebec Council of Construction Trade, would discover that their union cut a deal with the competing FTQ, which would leave them outside desirable fields, a form of discrimination forbidden by law.
