In a statement issued by the Press, Media and Communication Syndicate of the Moroccan Labor Union, the Syndicate expressed its solidarity with the TV personality Youssef Belhaissi after he was suspended from work due to his trade union stances and was accused of committing a grave mistake, which comes in complete contradiction with the articles of the Moroccan Labor Code that have defined the forms of grave error.
The Syndicate said in its statement that “Medi 1 TV channel has lived in an unprecedented atmosphere of congestion in recent weeks, and this is evident in the absence of dialogue and amid unilateral decisions, some of which directly affect the fate of an important part of the channel’s workers.
Such decisions are not a first instance to the media scene, which is considered one of the pillars of democratic building, but it also contradicts the requirements of the labor code, as the administration has not been accepting to talk with representatives of the employees for many months as an example.
Similar anti-unionism actions and decisions were previously uttered by Medi 1 TV’s administration.
Attempts to eradicate trade union activism within the company reoccurred, which included issuing warnings, reprimands and suspensions from work that targeted activists and adherents of the Moroccan Labor Union within the TV channel.
In response to these violations, the Syndicate announced the following:
ü Renewing its solidarity with fellow journalist Youssef Belhaissi, and his right to express his positions on social media platforms,
ü Renewing its solidarity with the union office and with the MIDI 1 TV workers in their struggle to impose respect, dignity and to practise their freedom of association.
ü Inviting the channel management to end the suspension of Belhaissi, and to conduct an urgent dialogue with the union office to find realistic solutions to the suffering of the workers of the closed Rabat office, and to complete the internal dialogue on the collective agreement.
ü Demanding that the safety and health security conditions procedures should be ensured and that social distancing mechanisms be replaced instead of heading towards a channel stacking with more than 100 users at the height of the spread of the Coronavirus and in the absence of natural ventilation inside the channel’s building.
ü Calling the administration to its retaliation and intimidation policy towards workers because of their union stances or due to merely expressing their solidarity with union action.
ü Calling for a demonstration in solidarity with our colleagues in the channel and the censoring of union action, in coordination with the office of Midi 1 TV channel professionals.
The Syndicate called at the end of its statement the channel’s management to prioritize the higher interests of the channel, and to work with the union office to bypass the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic that have overburdened the Medi 1 TV channel’s budget, as is the case with all media outlet.
The Syndicate also finally noted that such mindset is necessary in order to avoid the causes of tension and the implications of all these conditions on the psychology of all media professionals, regardless of their position in the company.
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