They denounce different treatment depending on “the mobilizations and the union organizations”.
After the voluntary lifting of most of the roadblocks of farmers in France, the police on Saturday evacuated the last two blockades of the Confédération paysanne, a union classified on the left which had not followed the majority union FNSEA in the call to suspend actions after announcements from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
The blockage of the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier toll (Isère), on the A43, as well as that of the Leclerc purchasing center in Saint-Étienne-de-Montluc (Loire-Atlantique) were evacuated, calmly, indicated the union and the prefectures concerned.
“We are being dislodged even though we were completely peaceful,” lamented Jean-François Guitton, secretary general of the Loire-Atlantique Peasant Confederation, specifying that “there is not a trace left” of the passage of some 80 demonstrators.
A person arrested
The site was evacuated “due to disturbances to public order and the risk of shortages and losses of fresh products”, according to the Loire-Atlantique prefecture.
“An individual nevertheless rebelled and was arrested for contempt and rebellion.”
The Peasant Confederation was outraged by “the government’s choice to treat mobilizations and trade union organizations differently”, in a press release.
Throughout the movement, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had given instructions to the police and gendarmes to let the roadblocks and farmers' actions take place, unless they tried to get closer to Rungis or Paris.
The #Fnsea negotiated announcements for the few personal interests of its leaders and then that’s it.
Nothing about the guarantee of a worthy #farmer's income, the basis of any recognition of our profession!
#StopALE #organic #breeding #beekeeping #market gardening #PacSociale https://t.co/hgZp0nufkP
— Conf' Paysanne (@ConfPaysanne) February 3, 2024
If the government responded to the “personal interests of speculative agri-managers” of the FNSEA, nothing has been resolved on the central question of farmers’ “income”, believes the union.
One of the last blocked axes
In Isère, the evacuation of the A43 toll, one of the last axes still obstructed in the region on Saturday morning, allowed the resumption of traffic between Lyon and Chambéry.
The toll has been occupied since Tuesday by around ten tractors and around forty people.
The A43 and SCA West roadblocks were the last two held by the Confédération paysanne, according to a spokesperson for this agricultural union, a minority behind the FNSEA, the Young Farmers and the Rural Coordination.
The “Conf'” was the last union to have called for continued mobilization this weekend and next week, to denounce the government's agricultural policy and demand greater measures on remuneration.