Arrests made in Quebec truck protests

MONTREAL (Oct. 12, 1999) — Quebec police arrested four truck drivers who refused to obey a court injunction to call off a week-long blockade of highways.

The Quebec government obtained the injunction last Friday in an effort to force about 1200 truckers to end protests over rising fuel costs, a surtax on recycled tires, and the effects of provincial deregulation of the trucking industry, which they say discourages unionization. They are demanding the right to negotiate collectively.

The Quebec Superior Court ruling allowed police officers to arrest or detain any truckers who failed to respect the injunction and to seize their trucks.

“It will be zero tolerance for any roadside intimidation,” Public Security Minister Serge Menard warned the protesters.

Menard and the Quebec Federation of Labor urged truckers to come and discuss their grievances with the provincial government. But Menard said the government won’t negotiate with the truckers unless they lift the blockade.

The truckers, many of whom are affiliated with the Federation of Democratic Unions, staged blockades at major intersections and roads in Montreal, Quebec City, and and the remote regions of Abitibi and Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean in northern Quebec.