The union values ​​the gains of the agreement with the government

The Moroccan Labor Union said that its signing of the agreement with the Prime Minister and employers dedicates new benefits to the benefit of all employees in the public sector and the private sector, stating that this new agreement comes within the framework of social dialogue and implementation of the Social Charter signed on April 30, 2022.

A press release, obtained by Hespress, added, “This agreement also comes based on the demand memorandum that the Moroccan Labor Union submitted to the Prime Minister, and is the culmination of a series of marathon and difficult negotiating meetings that the negotiating delegations initiated with members of the government in the thematic committees since the first meeting that brought together the secretariat.” National Union of Moroccan Labor and Prime Minister on March 26, 2024.

It was stated in the same document that “the Moroccan Labor Union, throughout all stages of these negotiations, remained committed to all the urgent demands of all employees, presenting compelling proofs and arguments regarding them, and adhering to its positions and rejecting any trade-off affecting the rights and gains of employees, whether in the retirement file or the right to strike.” She added: “Despite the constraints and severity of the economic and social conditions that our country is going through, we were able to extract gains that the Extraordinary National Council of the Moroccan Labor Union, which met to deliberate on them on April 26, 2024, considered preliminary and acceptable and constitute another building block in the edifice of the rights and gains of the Moroccan working class.”

The same source recalled the contents of the agreement, which stipulated a general increase in wages in the public sector, public administrations, territorial communities and public institutions by 1,000 dirhams net in two installments, the first on July 1, 2024 and the second on July 1, 2025, as well as an increase in the amount of the legal minimum wage in the sector. Industrial, commercial and services (SMIG) by 10 percent in two installments, 5 percent starting in January 2025 and 5 percent starting in January 2026.

The communication also indicated an increase in the amount of the legal minimum wage in the agricultural sector (SMAG) by 10 percent, to be applied in two installments, 5 percent starting from January 2025 and 5 percent starting from January 2026, and a reduction in the value of the tax on wages in a way that improves income. All employees in the public sector, territorial communities and the private sector, starting from January 1, 2025, resulting in a net increase in wages ranging between 150 dirhams and 740 dirhams, by raising the first bracket related to net tax-exempt income from 30,000 dirhams to 40,000 dirhams annually. That is, exempting wages less than 6,000 dirhams per month.

The largest trade union in Morocco reported that “the agreement also stipulated reviewing the segments in order to expand them to reduce the rates applied to wages, which would enable these rates to be reduced by about 50 percent of the rates currently applied, and the 38 percent segment to be deleted as a marginal rate for the income tax schedule, and the reduction This price rises to 37 percent, and the amount of the annual tax deduction for the family burdens borne by the employee is increased from 360 dirhams to 500 dirhams for each person he supports.

As for the file of retirement systems, the Moroccan Labor Union adds, “general principles have been agreed upon.” However, the union “remains committed to its firm positions, including the need for the state to assume its responsibility in managing retirement systems and preserving the earnings of male and female employees and all salaried employees, in addition to rejecting the cursed trinity consisting of raising the age to 65 years, increasing contributions, and reducing pensions.”

The same source considered the exercise of the right to strike “a historical acquisition laden with a moral dimension and a homeland that the Moroccan working class seized through struggle,” pointing to “the organization’s struggles that enabled the freezing of the ill-fated draft of the regulatory law related to the exercise of the right to strike since 2016, after the previous government referred it to Parliament.” “In blatant violation of the methodology of dialogue and negotiation.”

The union organization concluded its statement by emphasizing that “these gains constitute only part of its aspirations, and the Moroccan Labor Union continues with all loyalty and militancy, a strong defender of all issues of the working class,” calling for “more mobilization, strengthening the ranks, and clinging to principles and unity, in order to extract more Just and legitimate demands.”