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Rabat – Morocco’s Democratic Confederation of Labor organized on Sunday a nationwide protest to denounce the latest government decision on imposing vaccination for access to the workplace.
On February 10, the confederation’s executive office held a meeting at its headquarters in Casablanca during which the executives reviewed the latest Moroccan and international developments and urged all Moroccan workers and citizens to participate in nationwide protests on February 13, the union reported in a press release.
The Democratic Confederation of Labor was among the trade unions that participated in the February 9 meeting with the head of government Aziz Akhannouch.
In his address to trade union representatives, Akhannouch stressed their role “in raising awareness on the imperative for civil servants and employees to complete their vaccination protocol and strengthen it through the third injection.”
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The next day, the confederation’s press release reiterated its condemnation of surging food and fuel prices, noting the absence of social dialogue and the need to defend trade unions’ freedoms. The organization raised the same points in the meeting with the government.
In particular, the trade union denounced the “abusive nonlegal actions” and “threatening” approach used by the government to impose “obligatory vaccination” for “access to workplaces.”
Over 24 million people have received the first vaccine shot in Morocco by February 13, when only 5 million have taken the booster dose. Also, a total of 1.15 million cases have tested positive in the country since the start of the pandemic, leading to 15,781 deaths.
With regards to price inflation and increasing unemployment levels, the confederation urged the government to provide special attention to social security as present conditions reflect social tension.
The confederation concluded its statement by highlighting the importance of “social dialogue” between the government and workers’ unions, adding that the dialogue should “meet the expectations of the working class.”
Morocco’s unemployment rates have surged amid the ongoing COVID pandemic. In August 2021, the country’s High Commissioner for Planning (HCP) reported the rise of the national unemployment rate from 12.3% to 12.8% in the second quarter of the year. In urban areas, the unemployment rate moved from 15.6% to 18.2%, marking a sharp increase.
Yet, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expects the unemployment rate in Morocco to stabilize at 11% in 2022, before a 0.7% decrease in 2023 due to a gradual economic rebound.
As for price inflation, it concerns daily used products such as cooking oil. In December, Morocco’s Competition Council explained the rise in cooking oil prices by pointing to Morocco’s reliance on imported oil raw materials amid a shortage in locally produced oilseeds.
“The severity of the recent increases in the prices of raw materials increased as a result of the increase in the costs of shipping and transporting goods at the international level,” the council concluded.
The council’s arguments can be used to explain the surging prices of products consisting of imported raw materials.
In January, Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) reported that 96.2% of households noticed an increase in food prices in 2020 while 78.6% of households lamented the ongoing increase in food prices.
