Moroccan trade unions have called a national 24-hour strike for Wednesday in the public service and local communities sector to protest rising prices of basic commodities and cost of living. Trade union sources said on Tuesday that the strike was approved by the majority of Moroccan trade unions despite a first round of negotiations and meetings with government leaders. The Moroccan Labour Union (UMT) and the Labour Democratic Union (CDT) said they also deplored the “deterioration living condition of some 150,000 civil servants in the communes, as well as the absence of effective will on the part of the government to meet their pressing demands for better salaries, retirements, their professional career and social conditions”. They are also demanding respect for trade union freedoms, opening of real negotiations without pre-onditions, increase in salaries in proportion to living conditions and the streamlining of public service and local communities statutes.
