Doha-da’s constitutional court of Morocco with the chairmanship of Mohamed Amine Benabdallah, which was confirmed on Wednesday the controversial organic law about the right to strike, and decided that the law 97-15 does not violate the constitution.
The decision contains specific observations on Articles 1, 5 and 12 after weeks of intensive debate and nationwide work Protests.
The court confirms the conclusion of the legislative procedure in which the draft law receive Final parliamentary approval on February 5 with 84 votes and 20 against 20.
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch presented the text to the Constitutional Court on February 11 and, between February 13th and 19th, initiated in writing with the spokesman for the Rachid Talbi Alami and the parliamentarians.
The court Regulate Contains several important provisions. “If you consider that the constitution is necessary to define the mission, the conditions and modalities of the exercise of the strike due to the last paragraph of its Article 29 of an organic law, it is therefore necessary that the legislation, which was passed in the context of this organic law, has not exceeded the area of
It was also developed that “the simple memory of the references, conventions and international principles in relation to the exercise of strike rights and the rights guaranteed by the constitution, the goals, principles and purposes that are guaranteed from their provisions do not represent a violation of the constitution.”
For Article 5, in which strikes that are obliged to make the law illegal, the Court of Justice stated that this article “does not contain a provision that contradicts the constitution”, but this is only valid on the condition that the regulatory texts to which it relates to, do not introduce any conditions and modalities for exercising the right to the law defined by this organic law. “
With regard to Article 12, in which strike procedures are described in the companies of the private sector, the court confirmed the first paragraph, but added a decisive provision: “The regulatory text must not introduce new modalities in order to designate strikes in companies or institutions of the private sector that were defined by the strike committee as the strike committee defined in this article.
This article expressly deals with the formation of strike committees and the necessary quorum for the strike permit in cases where there is no union within the establishment.
“Constitutional law”
Working organizations have strongly opposed legislation and regarded them as violations of the rights of employees.
The law grants the government officials considerable powers in order to intervene in strike actions and to implement a double system of restrictions on strike activities, which causes concerns about the practical exercise of labor rights.
UMT General Secretary Miloudi Moukharik previously spoke a strong opposition during a rally of over a thousand union representatives from different sectors, including banking, pressure, healthcare and transport.
“This is a declining, unconstitutional law that we will always fight against. We reject this law and ask the government to freeze it, ”he said to applaud.
Legislation has led to considerable concessions, including a ban on employers, which replaces replacement workers during the strikes.
However, these modifications did not appease large unions such as UMT and CDT, with Umt ultimately withdrawing from parliamentary discussions.
Nationwide two -day month of the last month hit was mainly triggered by this controversial law. It inflamed Violent controversy over the number of participation with five large unions, including the Moroccan union (UMT), and reported a turnout of 84.9%, which strongly contradicted the official government data.
Minister for economic integration Younes Sekkouri quoted significantly lower numbers: 32%in the public sector – with an education of 35.5%, followed by health care of 33.3%, justice at 30.5%and public administrations at 25.9% – while the participation of the private sector only registered 1.4%.
Despite this statistical gap, the strike triggered significant disorders in important sectors, from schools and universities to hospitals, banks and large industrial plants, including Casablanca and Tangier’s automotive plants, mining companies and phosphate production.
The constitutional court’s advocacy expressly deals with the implementation of Article 8 and makes it clear that although collective bargaining agreements enables temporary social ceasefire times, “this cannot permanently refuse their striking rights” in order to ensure that the rights of the pieces remain protected after an agreed suspension period or if agreements are violated.
The court made it clear that this provision cannot permanently deny employees to ensure that the right remains protected after an agreed suspension period or if specified agreements are violated.
The controversy unfolds in the middle of wider economic challenges with unemployment grab 13% nationally and almost 37% in young people.
The recent negotiations had an increase in the minimum wage by 10%, although union representatives report widespread non -compliance with employers under the escalation of living costs.
“The prices for meat, chicken and all basic raw materials used by Moroccan daily have risen to an unacceptable level,” emphasized labor representatives in the latest demonstrations.
According to Article 132 of the constitution, organic laws require the approval of the Constitutional Court before publication.
While the overall structure of the law is maintained, the validation of the court determines a clear limits for its implementation regulations, especially with regard to the strike entrances in the companies in the areas of private sector and the scope of the regulatory authority.
