Quebec truckers deplore that the conspiracy movement uses their profession to serve its interests when more important demands are to be made for their working conditions.
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“We’ve been working on our image for a long time to improve it. At the start of the pandemic, we congratulated truckers for their work and today, in just a few days, we will scrap our image because of people who use us. [pour le mouvement antivaccin] regrets Benoît Therrien, president of Truck Stop Québec.
Like him, several professionals observe the “Convoy for freedom” with great fear, especially for the bad reputation that it risks giving to truckers.
This is particularly the case of Frédéric Bisson, a former radio presenter converted into a trucker for almost a year.
“We are already seen as people who are not worth much, but here we are going to stick to this image and I find it really sad”, drops the one who does long-distance transport.
Same story for Pierre Pelletier, trucker for almost 30 years.
“It’s really frustrating to see conspirators using truckers to achieve their ends and raise money,” he says bitterly.
Not truckers
According to several truckers with whom The newspaper spoke, it is unlikely that those traveling from Quebec are actually truckers.
“I wonder who are those who will be able to afford to lose a day’s work, gas, truck rental to go demonstrate and stay stuck there,” wonders Éric Forget, trucker for 4 years.
Benoît Therrien, of Truck Stop Québec, agrees.
“There’s no company that’s going to want their truck crashing into a protest that’s not legitimate in the eyes of many people in the industry, especially when some are talking about doing a January 6th assault on Capitol Hill again. [à Washington] “, he laments.
Not productive
According to Frédéric Bisson, the initial movement could have been productive for truckers, who, in addition to working 70 hours a week, are only entitled to three days of paid sick leave.
“It’s a shame because we have so many reasons to demonstrate, truckers, but here the message is completely hijacked [par les anti-mesures sanitaires] “, he underlines. For his part, the president of the Quebec Trucking Association, Marc Cadieux, points out that 90% of truckers are adequately vaccinated. “We are exactly a reflection of today’s society, the percentage is the same,” he explained.