Rabat – The Independent Union of Moroccan Nurses and Health Technicians is gearing up for a series of protests as it announced a mobilization titled “Al Indifaa Al Akhir, meaning “The Last Offensive.”
Their plan involves various forms of protest, including a sit-in in front of Parliament in Rabat on January 20, armband demonstrations for the whole week, sit-ins across regions, a nationwide 48-hour strike on January 24 and 25, coupled with a march towards the Ministry of Health, and a 72-hour strike from January 30 to February 1.
Their primary demand is a substantial salary increase of MAD 3,000 for nurses, who have not seen a raise since 2006, as well as improved working conditions.
The discontent arises amidst ongoing negotiations between the government and healthcare unions to reach a finalized agreement by the end of January 2024.
The union released a statement on Tuesday expressing dissatisfaction with the government’s proposal, which offered nurses a MAD 800 increase and a MAD 600 pay rise for technicians.
The union described the government offer as “disastrous” and recalled past disappointments in 2006 and 2022.
“We will not tolerate a repeat of the farce and massacre of the 2006 and 2022 zero agreements. We will assert our rights with strength, as the field calls for it,” stressed the statement.
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The preliminary accord between the government and healthcare unions includes base salary increases for all healthcare sector employees, improved internal promotion conditions, and additional allowances, pending government budget approval.
The statement said that the “hundreds of powerful forms of protests” that nurses and health technicians implemented over the past year and a half were ineffective and “invisible” to the government.
It stressed that “nurses and health technicians are now faced with an inevitable choice – to strike by force and by all means possible. We are now in the final push.”
The union reiterated its rejection of the government’s proposal, labeling it as a “meager, disdainful” offer that “does not even meet a small part of what nurses and health technicians demand.”
Adding to the turmoil of Moroccan healthcare, the planned demonstrations come as unrest has extended to medical students, who have organized several protests in Rabat.
Their demands include objections to reducing the medical education period from seven to six years without accompanying measures, arguing that it would affect the quality of education and training.
In December, students boycotted final exams at the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy across Morocco after an overwhelming 97% of medical students and 91% of pharmacy students voted in favor.
