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5 April, 2024On 2 March in continuation of the joint work program, a national meeting was held in Casablanca to develop social dialogue and industrial relations in the textile, clothing, and footwear sector in Morocco. The meeting was held with representatives of IndustriALL, national contact point of OECD, the ministry of industry and trade, employers and textile unions from both the Moroccan Labor Confederation and the Democratic Confederation of Labor.
Al-Arabi Hamouk and Ahmed Hassoun, general secretaries of textile unions from Morocco, affiliated to IndustriALL, highlighted the difficult conditions experienced by workers in the sector, attacks on freedom of association, blatant defiance of international and national laws, low wages, the absence of occupational health and safety conditions, and non-compliance with international framework agreements.
They stressed their readiness to cooperate with all parties to improve the working conditions and productivity of the sector.
Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary, said:
“In order to develop a practical program to overcome the constraints facing this sector, there needs to be genuine social dialogue between all stakeholders to ensure success. This can be achieved by creating mutual trust that makes us work seriously and responsibly. We want social justice and fairness for the benefit of workers, and employers must engage with us.
IndustriALL has framework agreements with the brands, ACT and the ACCORD where there is a clear commitment from the brands to respect the labour law and apply international standards for work and occupational health and safety. We must listen to the voices of the unions, so that workers don’t become victims due to the lack of occupational health and safety conditions. We will be happy if Morocco joins the ACCORD.”
At the end of the meeting, all parties agreed on The Moroccan Multilateral Working Group for the TGSL Sector to improve cooperation and coordination among stakeholders to enhance social dialogue and identify priorities for joint actions in the sector, especially occupational safety and health.