Morocco Unions celebrate Labor Day with massive demonstrations in Rabat

Hundreds of Moroccans participated in labor union demonstrations, in commemoration of International Workers' Day, amid calls for the government to respond to the rights of the working class. The participants chanted slogans and raised slogans calling for workers' equity and fulfillment of their rights, in parallel with chants of solidarity with Jerusalem.

Hundreds of Moroccans participated, on Sunday, in labor union demonstrations, in commemoration of International Workers' Day, amid calls for the government to respond to the rights of the working class.

In the center of the capital, Rabat, the National Labor Union of Morocco (opposition) organized a central demonstration, on the occasion of Labor Day, which falls on May 1 of each year.

According to the Anatolia correspondent, the demonstration witnessed chants of chanting and raising slogans calling for fairness for workers and meeting their rights, in parallel with chants of solidarity and support for the Palestinian cause and the city of Jerusalem.

Abdelilah Benkirane, former Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party (Islamist/opposition), said in a speech during the demonstration: "This people, with its workers, men, women, rich, poor and peasants, want reasonableness and honesty."

He added, "This is not an ordinary people, but a people of masculinity, chivalry, courage and dignity, and the government's manipulations cannot deceive them."

Benkirane denounced the Israeli attacks on worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem, saying: "You (Israel) are killing our brothers in Palestine and you want us to welcome you to Morocco."

For his part, Abdelilah El-Halouti, Secretary-General of the National Union of Labor, said during the demonstration: "The celebration of the first of May for this year is characterized by the government's resignation from its social policing tasks, and its inability to initiate a real social dialogue that evokes the challenges of the stage."

He called on the government to "radically review its policies and social choices, work to bypass some of them, and take the initiative to protect workers and the general population from rising fuel prices and the high cost of living, through an immediate increase in wages and pensions."

The Moroccan Union of Labor (the largest trade union) did not organize field demonstrations on International Workers' Day "to coincide with the Eid al-Fitr rituals and the fear of the outbreak of the Corona virus."

And on Saturday, the Moroccan government announced the signing of a social agreement and a national charter for social dialogue with unions, which include improving work conditions and increasing wages, following a meeting held by the Higher Committee for Social Dialogue.

According to the statement, the agreement was signed by Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, head of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (the largest grouping of companies in Morocco), Chakib Laalj, and other labor union leaders.