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Rabat – The National Union of Higher Education Staff and University Residences, part of the Democratic Labor Confederation, announced a series of strikes and sit-ins to protest what it calls the ministry’s “policy of marginalization and refusal to hold dialogue.”
The union will start with a 48-hour strike on September 2 and 3, followed by a nationwide 72-hour strike from September 9 to 11.
A sit-in is planned outside the Ministry of Higher Education on September 10.
Further 72-hour strikes are scheduled for September 17–19, and a final round of action will take place from September 30 to October 2, with a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Economy and Finance on October 1.
The union accused the minister of avoiding serious talks with the sector’s most representative organization, preferring to engage with smaller unions.
It also criticized delays in publishing the official statute for higher education civil servants, while the ministry pushes forward a draft law “with gaps and without prior consultation,” according to the union.
Officials noted a critical shortage of staff at universities, which, they claim, has forced institutions to hire students and temporary workers for administrative tasks that fall outside legal boundaries. The union asserts that this measure seeks to weaken strike efforts.
The decision for this mobilization followed a remote national bureau meeting on August 24, which implemented resolutions from an extraordinary national council held on July 30.
The meeting reviewed recent developments in the sector, including the submission of the higher education bill to the Government Secretariat and its appearance on the government council agenda on August 28.
The union criticized the timing of the submission, noting it occurred during the summer and without consultation with the main union, contradicting the ministry’s prior commitments.
Finally, the union condemned what it calls the ministry’s repeated delays in publishing the civil servant statute, approved since January, and expressed frustration at the minister’s refusal to engage in a genuine dialogue, despite promises from the prime minister to intervene and ease tensions.
