A union member is organizing a convoy of protesters heading to Quebec City to hold a demonstration against the province’s public health measures related to COVID-19, but not with funding from his union.

The convoy appears to be inspired by the hundreds of truckers and their supporters who have occupied the downtown core of the nation’s capital since Saturday, demanding an end to all public health restrictions and the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Bernard “Rambo” Gauthier, who is taking a cue from the Ottawa protest, represents a group of heavy machinery operators who are represented by the FTQ union in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region.

In a video posted to Facebook Monday, he said he is concerned about fellow union members who report alleged suicide attempts, increases in seperation and divorce, bankruptcies and inability to work because of health rules or because they don’t have a vaccine passport.

Gauthier is calling for people to gather near the Quebec legislature Thursday and for FTQ workers to be taken by bus into the provincial capital later this week.

In his video he says that the heads of his union have so far not shown support for his rally and he accuses them of forgetting their workers.

Éric Boisjoly, general manager of the FTQ-Construction union, confirmed in an interview with The Canadian Press on Tuesday that the union will not financially support the rally.

The FTQ represents about 43 per cent of construction workers in Quebec.

Keep reading on CTV News

• 
•