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Rabat – Airport workers affiliated with Morocco’s Democratic Confederation of Labor (CDT) are set to carry out a five-day nationwide strike across the country’s airports, demanding better pay and working conditions.
The strike will start on June 15, coinciding with the launch of Operation Marhaba 2022.
The National Syndicate of Morocco’s National Airports Office (SNONDA) held a meeting on May 28 to discuss the deteriorating conditions of airport employees, which resulted in the decision to carry out the strike.
According to a SNONDA press release, airport employees in Morocco are denouncing the wage gap within the Office’s institutions, the “complete absence” of employees’ representatives, as well as the administration’s procrastination in fulfilling their obligations toward workers.
The syndicate has demanded an increase in the wages of the “marginalized groups” within the National Airports Office (ONDA), including technicians, firefighters, engineers, and other workers.
The unions affiliated with the CDT are calling on the ONDA to settle the remaining measures of the agreement signed with the syndicate in February 2019, including reimbursement of transportation costs to airport workers.
Read also: Morocco: First Non-European Destination for Spanish Tourists
In its press release, the Syndicate said it is putting full responsibility on the ONDA for any disruptions in airports’ activities due to the protests, especially with the strike starting the day Operation Marhaba launches. The strike’s duration is up for extension.
After two years of COVID-led disruptions, Morocco is expecting a large flow of diaspora return in the upcoming Operation Marhaba.
Each year, the Moroccan government organizes Operation Marhaba between June and September, a program aimed at facilitating the transit of Moroccans residing abroad between Morocco and their countries of residence.
Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita has reassured Moroccan expatriates that his department will ensure a successful organization of the operation.
To meet diaspora needs, Morocco is set to mobilize 32 ships on all the maritime lines connecting the country’s ports to their counterparts in Spain, France, and Italy, as well as increase flights for busy lines.
