Starting from the new year 2019, the public workers’ wages in Morocco will witness a new cut, as the fourth and final deduction under the pension reform law approved by the previous government led by “Abdel-Elah Benkirane”.
This new deduction comes under Law No. 71.14 adopted in 2016, whereby the deduction rate for the coming year will reach 14% of the salary. The same law also stipulates a gradual increase in the age of retirement to 63 years, starting from 2024.
This increase in the deduction rate and the age of retirement is part of the measures approved and adopted by the previous government to reform the Moroccan pension fund, which provides the civilian and military pensions, after the crisis it has witnessed, during the recent years, which has become a threat to the pensions.
In the past, the deduction of former employees did not exceed 10 per cent, and in the fourth year, since the adoption of the reform it would reach about 500 dirhams, which is considered by the trade unions as a blow to the purchasing power of the middle class.
Following this reform, a number of employees organized national meetings, seeking to topple this plan. They asked the government to cancel such decision because of its threatening of the purchasing power of the public employees, in light of the rise in prices. Moreover, they also asked to increase their salaries rather than deducting them.
This reform was followed by a public outcry among the public employees in the kingdom, especially since the unions did not succeed in cancelling the government’s decision. However, during the last round of social dialogue, there was a possibility of the government’s withdrawal in the fourth tranche of the employees' salaries next year.
In light of the failing of the social dialogue and the suspension of meetings, it is expected that the government of “Saad Eddin Othmani” will implement the proposed increase in wages by 100 dirhams in the coming days, although its non-agreement with the trade union centres, which called for an increase of 600 dirhams for all sectors.
The number of employees in the public sector in Morocco is about 700 000, of which 583 thousand and 71 are civil workers, 147 637 employees in the territorial communities, 129 545 in the public institutions, and their wages reach about 120 billion dirhams annually.
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