Morocco: interview of Jamal Belahrach, chairman of the Committee on Employment and Social Relations at the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises

The goal is to build dialog with unions and no longer tripartite dialog with the government, which we used to do until now. We will discuss the problems faced by businesses and the labor code in general together, and we will ask for the State’s help, as a facilitator, regulator or arbitrator if we need to. We want to develop a social agenda together and set a deadline to negotiate reforms. The issue will then be the said deadline. But it is still a small revolution in the Moroccan social landscape. We need to build trust, to stop seeing bosses as freeloaders and unionists as warriors. It is even easier since we are at a favorable time in our social and economic history. With the crisis, even though Morocco wasn’t particularly affected, I think that heads of businesses and unions understood that they had to work together. Besides, the king spoke in July in favor of a new social contract. Now is the time to think about a Moroccan social model, which will include social protection and go even further. The Moroccan labor code dates back to the protectorate. It was improved in 2004 but it is still too strict.