Morocco, labour unions resume talks

16/03/2009

As Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi and labour leaders go back to the bargaining table, one official hints that the government will agree to a wage hike.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 16/03/09

[Getty Images] The Moroccan government opens new dialogue with labour unions.

The Moroccan government and labour unions returned to the negotiating table this week after breaking off talks last December. Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi convened the union representatives on Thursday (March 12th) to breathe new life into the negotiations over labour rights and employee compensation.

The unions relented after four institutions, the National Moroccan Workers' Union (UNTM), the Moroccan Workers' Organisation (ODT), the Democratic Workers' Federation (FDT), and the Moroccan Workers' Union (UMT), called Thursday for a national march on March 22nd, and threatened to boycott the upcoming union elections.

Following this decisive meeting, which came after two national strikes in the public service sector, the unions confirmed that the head of the government expressed his desire to move forward and find a resolution to the outstanding problems.

"The prime minister gave much reassurance, and promised to take a serious look at the issues that have been at the centre of the debate, particularly pay increases and union freedoms," said Miloudi Moukharik of the UMT general secretariat.

FDT Secretary-General Abderrahman Azzouzi confirmed that El Fassi was eager committed to ensure the dialogue's success. "He asked us to submit in writing all the grievances that have resulted in the dispute," he said.

The Prime Minister stressed the fact that the social dialogue has now been established and must not be broken.

"The unions have a responsibility to consider the perils of the current international economic situation when formulating their demands," stated Public Sector Modernisation Minister Mohamed Abbou.

Moukharik replied that during the next session of the dialogue, the government is expected to agree in principle to wage rises that could be brought in by 2010. "We need an undertaking at least for the years to come," he told Magharebia.

The next round of talks, set for the end of March, will cover the private sector. Already last year, the unions were dissatisfied at the weakness of the government proposals regarding the sector.

Unions pointed out that only the minimum guaranteed wage was increased by 5%, with other pay remaining unchanged. Moukharik explained that the government had committed itself to urging businesses to engage in dialogue with their employees about pay increases.

Yet "up to now, nothing's been done. What's more, a number of businesses haven't applied the 5% increase," he concluded.

Labour groups have also called for a reversal of the decision to deduct pay from the salaries of those who strike. Union members expect to be able to get the government to halt this measure. This last point will be on the agenda for the talks planned over the next few days.

The subject recently stirred up a major debate in Morocco. The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) had severely criticised the government's decision, even though the party is itself a part of the governing coalition and its ministers had voted in support of the decision at the governing council meeting. The USFP explained that the pay deductions have no legal basis.

"The unions could not tolerate the use of this kind of tactic to dissuade them from engaging in repeated strikes. However, it soon proved not to be working as a means of dissuading them, because the stoppages were widely observed, particularly within local authorities. The government will be forced to back down on this, particularly as the Labour Day holiday and local elections approach," said professor of political science Mohamed Bachiri.