The demonstration took place without major incidents, with only some altercations with the police, according to AFP correspondents at the scene.
Hundreds of Moroccan left-wing trade unionists demonstrated Sunday in Casablanca (west) to protest the “high cost of living” and “government inaction”, despite the ban on demonstrations, according to AFP correspondents.
Trade unionists from the Democratic Confederation of Labor (left) who came from all over the country gathered in the historic center of the economic capital.
In a statement to France Press, Union member Abdullah Al-Ghubouri, who came from Agadir (south), said: “We are here to express our dissatisfaction with the high prices and the attacks on the purchasing power.”
The demonstrators chanted slogans, including “the livelihood of workers is in danger,” while most of them wore yellow vests, badges and hats, the color of the union’s logo.
A number of them asked: “How can the poorest people live in light of the high food prices?”
The Confederation of Democratic Labor was planning to organize a national march in Casablanca, but the local authorities banned it, according to trade union leader Tariq Alawi Al-Husseini. “But we stuck to pretending,” he rectified.
price hike
The demonstration took place without major incidents, with only some altercations with the police, according to AFP correspondents at the scene.
Morocco is witnessing a sharp rise in prices, especially for food products, which affects the poorest families.
Inflation slowed slightly in April to 7.8 percent year on year, after reaching 10.1 percent in February and 8.2 percent in March, according to official statistics.
However, food prices continue to rise (+16.3% year on year).
This inflation is partly due to the chronic lack of rainfall, which affects the agricultural sector, which is one of the pillars of the Moroccan economy, and causes, in particular, the high prices of fruits and vegetables.
A member of the Confederation’s Executive Council, Nadia Sabbat, told AFP that the union condemns “the inaction of the government, which did not implement the social agreement concluded last year.”
In April 2022, the government concluded a “social agreement” with the main trade unions and employers, which specifically provides for an increase in the minimum wage in the public and private sectors.
The government spokesman, Mustafa Batas, had recently stated that “the government has fulfilled a large part of its obligations, despite the difficult economic situation.”
