FTQ-Construction, a division of the Quebec Federation of Labour, staged impromptu protests at several work sites to protest the lack of heated toilets at construction sites. (MAXIME DELAND/QMI Agency)

MONTREAL — Quebec's largest union has chosen a novel way to protest the lack of heated toilets at construction sites — its workers used cranes to hoist porta-potties hundreds of feet in the air.

FTQ-Construction, a division of the Quebec Federation of Labour, staged the impromptu protests in Montreal, Trois-Rivieres and at several other work sites.

The union wants the government to order contractors to provide heated toilets with running water.

"No heating in minus-40 with the stench? We're in 2012! It's inhuman to treat workers like that," union president Yves Ouellet said.

"We're fed up," he added. "Since the early 2000s, we've been asking for our workers to be treated humanely on construction sites."

The union has even created a special website that allows workers to vote for the most decrepit toilets.

Relations between unions and the Quebec government have been deteriorating in recent years.

A three-day wildcat strike last year included sabotage, vandalism and threats.