Petition instead of burning tires: farmers’ protests spread to Switzerland

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“That’s enough!” More than 10,000 farmers in Bern took to the streets with signs and banners to protest against the federal government’s austerity plans. That was in November 2015. Since then, there has been no major farmers’ demonstration in Switzerland. Such an uprising is “not appropriate” in this country, Martin Haab (61), chairman of the Zurich farmers’ association, told Blick as hundreds of farmers across Germany paralyzed traffic across the country in early January.

But the protest has now spread to Switzerland. Last weekend, several dozen tractors drove to Geneva and about 200 people demonstrated. There was also a smaller protest in the Basel region. The farmers’ union Uniterre was behind the demonstration in western Switzerland. Also present were members of the group “Révolte agricole Suisse” (Swiss Peasant Protest), which was founded on Facebook and now has more than 7,000 members.

Blockages abroad?

In recent weeks, the group had attracted attention in French-speaking Switzerland by screwing up several city signs upside down as a silent sign of protest. It is an allusion to the slogan ‘On marche sur la tête’ of the farmers in France, which means something like ‘Everything goes wrong’. The group does not rule out blockades such as those abroad.

With their protest, the farmers are not primarily targeting politicians, but retailers. One of their demands: fair producer prices. The farmers’ association is also campaigning for this with a petition.

To the disappointment of the organizers of the French-speaking Swiss farmers’ protest, the farmers’ association continues to exercise restraint. He had called on his members to keep the ball down.

Against fewer subsidies and more requirements

More than 35,000 people had signed the online petition on Tuesday. In it, farmers demand, for example, more recognition for their work, no cuts in direct payments, higher producer prices and no further environmental requirements. The federal government and politicians are expected to “address the problems of agriculture and offer solutions that are adapted to practice and the regional context”.

The farmers are opposing the savings plans of Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (60): The agricultural budget must be reduced by 2.5 percent in the coming years.

The farmers find Minister of Economy Guy Parmelin (64) understanding. The trained winemaker recently stated on French-language Swiss television that farmers were suffering from an increasing administrative burden. The goal is to reduce bureaucracy as much as possible. He also sees a responsibility in retail. One option is to create more price transparency. (lha)

Source:Blick