Summary:

On 4 February 2025, multiple labor unions in Morocco organized a general strike and sit-ins across the country to protest their waning purchasing power amidst inflation and an as-of-yet unproductive dialogue with the government. 

The Moroccan Labor Union (UMT), one of the main unions organizing the strike, announced that the participation rate in the strike reached 84.9% and caused a complete shutdown in several sectors including education, healthcare, local administrations, ports, manufacturing, energy production sites, and transportation.  

The strikers called on the government to combat speculation, reduce living costs, decrease unemployment, and respect previous commitments to organize a dialogue with the unions, especially concerning the new strike law that was approved during the strike. 

Union leaders rejected the strike law saying that they were not consulted and that the law restricts their fundamental right to strike by maintaining the no-work-no-pay rule and by forbidding open strikes.  

Outlook: 

Though not all Moroccan unions participated, the strike represents a blow to the government’s efforts to display social stability as part of its broader effort to continue attracting foreign investments. 

Increasing prices and unemployment are among the challenges the government has been trying to tackle with results not yet satisfactory to union officials and their members, nor with the broader public.  

Additionally, the government’s unilateral decisions concerning important questions for workers risk further frustrating and isolating the unions from the government, despite those same unilateral decisions including some new measures considered favorable to the workers, like the reduction of the pre-strike notice period and the approval of solidarity strikes.  

With no further dialogue between the unions and the government scheduled, it is likely that tensions will remain, and additional strikes will be held until a resolution perceived as more equitable for Moroccan workers is reached.  

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