Pension reform: demonstration in Vire, Norman stronghold of Elisabeth Borne

The city of Vire, in Calvados, was, on Saturday April 1, to be the heart of the mobilization against the pension reform

Pension reform: demonstration in Vire, Norman stronghold of Elisabeth Borne

The city of Vire, in Calvados, was, on Saturday April 1, to be the heart of the mobilization against the pension reform. Several thousand demonstrators were expected in the chosen land of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

All trade union organizations have called for this regional gathering. "We are massively expressing our anger, not only against this (pension reform) project, but also against the contempt with which the government crushes us", writes the inter-union in its call to participate, illustrated by a slogan, "64 years old, it's no ! ".

“For months we have been expressing our rejection, but the government refuses to hear us: what an example of dialogue! Their only answer, we know it: it is the repression of the movement, ”says the inter-union again.

Many controls

At the end of the morning, around forty trade unionists as well as farmers from the Confédération Paysanne were already gathered in front of the Porte Horloge, the scheduled departure point of the procession at 2:30 p.m., noted a correspondent from Agence France Presse and France Bleu Normandie. . According to Ouest France "minus 600 people according to the first estimate of the gendarmes, around 5,000 people according to the unions" marched through the city, despite the rain and numerous checks.

The prefecture had warned that "State services will put in place a control system to ensure the safety of goods and people". "Prohibition measures have also been enacted", it says: "prohibition of the use, possession, transport and use of pyrotechnic and flammable devices; ban on the take-out sale of alcoholic beverages in the city center of Vire". It also recalls that "in the event of damage caused to persons and property, the civil and criminal liability of the demonstrators may be engaged".

A few businesses have protected their windows with wooden plates, mainly banks, real estate agencies and telephone shops.