House of Representatives Adopts Government Organic Bill Defining Conditions and Modalities of Practicing the Right to Strike and Rejects Parliamentary Bill on the Family Aid Fund
The House of Representatives held two legislative plenary sittings on Tuesday, December 24, 2024. During the first sitting, chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abdelmajid Fassi Fihri, the House rejected by a majority of votes the parliamentary bill amending Articles 2 and 4 of Law 83.17 defining the conditions and procedures for benefiting from the Family Aid Fund, in a second reading. The sitting featured the presence of the Minister of Economic Integration, Small Enterprises, Employment, and Skills, Mr. Younes Sekkouri.
During the second legislative sitting, chaired during its first part by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abdelmajid Fassi Fihri, and during the second part by the Speaker of the House, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, the House adopted by a majority of votes Government Organic Bill 97-15 defining the conditions and modalities of practicing the right to strike. The sitting featured the presence of the Minister of Economic Integration, Small Enterprises, Employment, and Skills, Mr. Younes Sekkouri, and the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in Charge of Relations with the Parliament and Government Spokesperson, Mr. Mustapha Baïtas.
The Bill, provided for in the first Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco in 1962 and anchored by the next constitutions, comes to regulate the practice of this right in a way that contributes to reinforcing the human rights process, ameliorating the social climate and the business climate, enhancing the attractiveness of national economy to investment, and producing wealth that creates decent job positions.
The Government Organic Bill defines the conditions and modalities of practicing the right to strike in the private sector. Said conditions and modalities include, in particular, conducting negotiations and proposing settlements regarding the charter of demands, defining the duration of the negotiations before initiating the strike, and inhibiting the obstruction of the practice of the right to strike by employers, their professional chambers, or by the trade unions. Besides, the Bill prohibits taking any discriminatory measures against workers in the event of the practice of their right to strike, bans alternate striking, and prohibits the obstruction of the freedom to work during the strike. The Bill also stipulates the imperative of defining the information included in the decision to strike.
As concerns the practice of the right to strike in the public sector, the Bill includes conditions that define the public sector and determine the notice period, the requirements of notifying the decision to strike to the concerned parties, as well as the categories that cannot practice the right to strike.
Regarding the practice of the right to strike in vital facilities, a sole article defines the list of these facilities and the methodology of determining the minimum service that must be provided within them. The sole article also stipulates the possibility of extending the list of vital facilities by virtue of a law after consulting the professional organizations and the most represented trade unions.
The adopted Government Organic Bill will serve as a cornerstone for completing the legal arsenal regulating the social area as it aims to respond to the aspirations of workers, enhance the competitiveness of Moroccan enterprises, and ensure legal and judicial security.
