Chloé Lagadou, edited by Romain Rouillard 18:49 pm, March 19, 2023
The protest against the pension reform and the use of 49.3 is not empty this Sunday. In Paris, the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Élysées, which were beginning to become symbols of this slingshot, were forbidden to demonstrators who therefore carry out punch operations here and there.While waiting for the big day of mobilization scheduled for Thursday at the call of the inter-union, opponents of the pension reform, and the use of 49.3 to pass it, continue to express their discontent in the street. After a Saturday marked by several local mobilizations, sometimes punctuated by violence as in Paris, the demonstrators participated this Sunday in punch operations here and there.
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In the afternoon, the Sud-Rail and Solidaires unions organized an operation called "free toll" on the A1 motorway. At Senlis in the Oise, the passage was free for motorists coming from the north of the France and towards Paris. Some even took the opportunity to deposit a few coins in the strike fund while others honked their horns in support. What delight this militant of the SUD union, interviewed at the microphone of BFM TV. "You can see the number of honks there. Everyone was against this bill. It is one action but there will be others and there will also be actions to block industrial zones. There are a lot of things that are being prepared tomorrow morning and for all of next week."
The Place de la Concorde, squared by the police
On the A13 motorway, another demonstration was underway in the Caen-Paris direction. In Buchelay in the Yvelines, the toll was also free. The protesters also took over the Rosny 2 shopping center, located in Seine-Saint-Denis. At the call of the CGT education union, they are paraded through the aisles of the gallery in a good-natured atmosphere.
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As for the capital, the police remain on guard despite the closure of the Place de la Concorde to demonstrators. Since Thursday evening, spontaneous rallies against the pension reform have been accumulating in Paris and a security device has therefore been set up around this square in the 1st and 8th arrondissement, as explained by Grégory Joron, general secretary of the SGP Police Force Ouvrière union. "There are mobile forces implanted especially around the Concorde and near institutions like Matignon and a reinforced closure of the Elysee. So we have four companies of CRS around the Place de la Concorde and there are several intervention companies of the personnel of the Brigade for the Repression of Violent Acts (BRAV) who are motorized and who are placed around the Place de la Concorde to enforce the ban on demonstrations that was taken by the prefect by decree."
The officer also adds that other units are currently on standby and will be mobilized if new spontaneous gatherings take place in the evening.