Unions are stepping up [INTÉGRAL]

The year 2025 opens with a legislative battle around Bill 15-97 governing the right to strike. On December 25, 2024, the organic bill relating to the strike passed the stage of the House of Representatives, where it was approved with 124 votes for and 41 against. However, the text, now transmitted to the House of Councilors, has sparked an outcry from the main unions sitting in this body, which must now examine and approve the new law.
Thus, the Moroccan Labor Union (UMT) and the Democratic Confederation of Labor (CDT) expressed their rejection of the text in its current state, accusing it of not respecting the constitutional right to strike and calling for its revision. This opposition forced the Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, Younes Sekkouri, leader of the project, to meet the two unions on December 30 and 31, with the aim of ironing out the differences on the disputed points. However, these discussions did not result in any apparent consensus.

Unilateral approach

The UMT reaffirmed its rejection of the bill in a press release published after its meeting with the minister. The union criticized the government’s unilateral approach, believing that the legislative process violates the commitments made during the social dialogue of April 2022 as well as the Pact for the institutionalization of social dialogue signed in April 2023.
The union denounces repressive provisions, in particular high financial sanctions, likely to hinder the exercise of the right to strike by employees and their organizations. The UMT recalls that the right to strike constitutes a constitutional right and a component of fundamental freedoms, recognized by international conventions, in particular those of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
He also criticizes the restriction of forms of strike, the introduction of complex bureaucratic procedures for their declaration, and the criminalization of certain practices, fearing negative consequences on freedom of expression and union action.

A restrictive text

The CDT went further by describing the text as “restrictive” and “unacceptable”. The union criticizes provisions limiting trade union rights, including the implicit ban on solidarity, political and general strikes. The CDT demands harmonization of the project with the Constitution and international commitments, in particular Convention No. 87 of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
It also calls for the repeal of article 288 of the Penal Code and the removal of measures deemed restrictive of the right to strike. The center denounces the absence of effective social dialogue, the non-compliance with government commitments, as well as pressure on trade union freedoms, such as the refusal to issue receipts to union offices.
She also criticizes the merger of CNOPS with CNSS, decided without consultation, believing that it threatens the rights of policyholders. The CDT calls for urgent reform of professional electoral laws to correct current failures. She also announced regional marches on January 5 in all regional capitals to defend the right to organize and strike.

A revised text

The organic bill, as submitted to the Second Chamber of the Hemicycle, is divided into four chapters and includes 35 articles, accompanied by a preamble absent in the previous text. The first chapter, composed of nine articles, establishes the foundations of the text by legally defining the strike and its legislative framework.
The second chapter, made up of thirteen articles, details the conditions and procedures for organizing a strike, including notice and obligations linked to the continuity of vital services. The third chapter, which contains eleven articles, deals with disciplinary measures and guarantees of execution, including the sanctions provided for in the event of non-compliance with the legal framework. Finally, the fourth chapter, more concise with two articles, specifies the deadlines for application and the date of entry into force of the text.
The version adopted by the House of Representatives introduces several new features, particularly concerning the professional categories authorized to strike. Unlike the old version which limited this right to civil servants and employees in the public and private sectors, the new text extends this possibility to liberal professions, thus allowing this category to escape illegality, in the words of the Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, Younes Sekkouri.