Moroccan unions protest government plan to reform pension system

Dozens of Moroccans unionists protested on Tuesday in front of the Moroccan pension fund in Rabat against the government’s plan to reform the pension system.

The proposed changes to state pension funds include raising the retirement age from 60 to 63 by 2019 and raising contributions where workers will have to pay 14 per cent of their salaries by 2019.

Government contributions will rise in tandem, from 10 per cent before the reform, adding 1 percentage point each year to meet the new plan.

The protest was organised by the Moroccan Labour Union (UMT), Democratic Labour Confederation (CDT), Democratic Federation of Labour (FDT), General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM) and the National Union of Higher Education.

The participants have denounced the government plan and called to engage them in the reform process.

Abdul Rahim Hindof, secretary general of the worker’s union of the Moroccan Labour Union, told Anadolu news agency that the workers organised the protest to express their rejection of the Moroccan government plan to reform pension systems.

Hindof criticised the government’s refusal to discuss its plan with the unions, saying “instead it has chosen to pass the reform laws in the parliament where it enjoys a majority”.

He added: “The employees are not responsible for the pensions crisis, and therefore they should not bear the repair costs.”