Moroccan unions call first general strike since 2016
The Moroccan unions and the Moroccan government are maintaining opposing positions with regard to the approval of the new law on strikes, which could lead to the calling of protest demonstrations.
Representatives of the Moroccan Labour Union withdrew from the general session held on Monday 3rd February in the House of Councillors, at which the new law on strikes was due to be approved.
In the same session, representatives of the Democratic Confederation of Labour accused the government of closing negotiations on the bill and eliminating the right to strike.
As a result, the Moroccan Labour Union (UMT), the Democratic Confederation of Labour (CDT), the Democratic Organisation of Labour (ODT) and the Federation of Democratic Trade Unions (FSD) have announced a general strike in various public and private services for 5 and 6 February, in protest at the government's ‘unpopular’ policies, which include the reform of the strike law itself, the increase in the retirement age from 63 to 65 and the loss of workers' purchasing power.
First general strike since 2016
This is the first general strike to be called in Morocco since 2016, the year in which the last change to the retirement age to date took place. The strike, which the unions have resorted to as a means of exerting pressure after months of attempts to negotiate with the government, will include the civil service, public administrations, public and semi-public institutions, territorial groups, all institutions in the private production, services and agriculture sectors, traders, professionals and artisans.
In the words of the leader of the UMT, Miloudi Moukharik declared that ‘workers and the working classes are in a very complicated situation’ and denounced the loss of purchasing power of workers and pensioners.
According to Moukharik, the general strike is only ‘the first step’, as the law includes some articles that are closer to criminal law than to strike law, and endanger this universally guaranteed right.
For his part, Khaled El Houair El Alami, deputy secretary general of the Democratic Confederation of Labour, emphasised that ‘the decision to declare a national strike is a militant response to the government's transgressions in a purely political context, because when the government wants to get rid of a law, it quickly runs to parliament to exploit its overwhelming majority. The law on strikes aims to tie the hands of workers in various sectors and silence those affected, and we are here to put pressure on the government to reverse this law that attacks the heart of the constitution’.
Mohammed Zouiten, the general secretary of the National Labour Union, explained to the press that ‘the government did not respond to the proposals made by the National Labour Union in Morocco, and this is very dangerous and shows that the rich and powerful are trying to destroy the working class, considering it the weakest link in this context’.
Government position
On the other hand, the Minister of Economic Integration, Small Businesses, Employment and Skills, Younes Sekkouri, praised the ‘responsible national position’ of the opposition, ‘which did not withdraw from the discussion on the bill regulating strikes in the House of Councillors, but chose to sit down at the dialogue table and present its arguments, which is what the Government has adopted in many of the points’.
For the minister, ‘the Kingdom of Morocco has witnessed periods in its history in which important and fundamental decisions were made that sought to protect the future of our children and young people, as well as the working class that will enter the labour market. Today we have achieved the objective and the Government has worked hard’.
The law will be processed in the House of Councillors, the second chamber of the Moroccan Parliament, after the vote in favour of 10 members of the Education, Social and Cultural Affairs Committee and the vote against of only five.
In total, 218 amendments were tabled relating to various articles of the law, some of which were accepted by the Government, while others were rejected.
The unions denounced the irresponsible behaviour of the government in approving the bill regulating the right to strike by ‘tortuous methods and freezing national social dialogue for two consecutive sessions’.
According to them, the government has aligned itself with employers, attacking trade union freedoms, marginalising unemployed young people and attacking public services such as education and health.