Lhe government recently started the first session of social dialogue for the current year. This focused in particular on the assessment of the agreement concluded in April 2024 and on the examination of union demands.
At the end of this meeting, the Prime Minister said that “despite the constraints, many commitments have been honored, including the increase in wages. For the public sector, a million civil servants have benefited from it and a new tranche will be paid next July ”.
The meeting was also coupled to the reform of the labor code as well as that of the pensions regime. The Moroccan Labor Union (UMT) immediately reacted to this meeting through a press release. She recalled “the imperative need to respect the semi -annual periodicity of social consultations, and pleads for a real organization of this mechanism, erected as a pillar of institutional dialogue”.
In the same vein, Youssef Alakouch, member of the Executive Office of the General Union of Workers of Morocco (UGTM), said that “the April 2024 agreement established two sessions per year. That of April and that of September. The first is dedicated to the presentation of union claims, and that of September takes stock of the program’s achievements. Unlike the previous meetings which had brought together all the stakeholders, the latter favored meetings with each union separately. This new approach makes it possible to approach the various subjects more effectively and to avoid interference, because each union has its own priorities ”.
He also maintains that “different clauses from the previous agreements have not been respected. The government did not organize the September 2024 meeting which precedes the development of the 2025 finance law, in order to avoid fixing budgetary commitments. He must look at the improvement of the situation of employees and civil servants, who must include not only a salary increase, but also other fiscal and administrative provisions. On the sectoral level, there is a discrepancy in the execution of the clauses of the social agreement. It is also necessary to ensure that the agreement is well applied in local authorities and public enterprises. In this regard, the State must follow up to better execute the various clauses of the program ”.
For his part, Omar Bakka, member of the Executive Office of the Democratic Labor Confederation (CDT), is very critical of government action, indicating that “there is currently a very important social dissatisfaction, amplified by the cost of living and the rise in unemployment”. “We are far from the institutionalization of a real social dialogue. This liberal connotation government defends the interests of employers. It is disconnected from the concerns of the working class. The way he passed the reform of the right to strike shows him. We are for a tripartite dialogue, which brings together all unions as well as employers. This will lead to a negotiated and concerted agreement, ”he adds.
Regarding pensions, he says that “we are still waiting for the presentation of the version proposed by the Minister of the Economy and Finance to pronounce. But we are already uncompromising on certain points. Because it is not the employees alone to bear the cost of this reform. It is up to the government to assume its responsibilities for the wrong choices and the delayed in this area. The cost of the reform will be heavy and difficult ”.
