Britain, AF Organise #83 - Morocco unbound

April 2014 saw a massive wave of protest in Morocco. This wave of struggle began on 6th 
April with a demonstration at Casablanca called by the Moroccan Union of Labour (UMT), the 
Democratic Confederation of Labour (CDT) and the Democratic Federation of Labour (FDT). At 
least 30,000 workers joined the demonstration. It mobilised around a call for a general 
strike against the attacks on the working class and on the standards of living. ---- The 
government led by the Islamist Abdelilah Benkiran has supervised the raising of prices of 
petrol and foodstuffs like bread, semolina, and sugar. He has refused to respond to the 
demands of the Association of Unemployed Graduates and has passed a law against strikes in 
the public sector. ---- The practice of the trade union bureaucracies has been to 
collaborate with the Mazhken, the monarchical regime, and to urge class peace. This did 
not stop the large turnout for the demonstration. During the course of the demo, the 
police mounted several attacks with batons and made many arrests.

This is nothing new in recent times in
Morocco and is sanctioned by the
highest powers in government.
The repression has been targeted
at the most dynamic section of
this new movement, the
Movement of 20th February,
which initially developed among
young people about three years
Moroccoago when the Arab Spring swept
through North Africa and the Gulf
states.

The section of the march
assembled around the
Movement of 20th February
banners was suddenly attacked
violently without warning and
with no provocation. The pretext
was that whilst other sections of
the march confined themselves
to slogans hostile to the
government, the Movement of
20th February also chanted
slogans against the King
Mohamed VI. In the eyes of the
police this is a crime as the King is
seen by them as untouchable.
Several militants were arrested.
Those arrested went on hunger
strike on 16th April after a judge
refused to grant bail and received
prison sentences of up to a year.
One of these was Wafaa Sharif
who received a year in prison.
When Bourker Kamlichi of the
organisation Democratic Way
highlighted Wafaa's case, he in
turn was arrested. In addition an
activist of AMDH (Moroccan
Human Rights Association) has
been sentenced to one year in
prison after denouncing torture.

The Miners

Another area where unrest broke
out was in one of the State
enterprises, The Cherifian Office
of Phosphate (OCP) at Khourbga
in central Morocco. The OCP is a
valuable asset of the regime,
representing 25% of exports from
Morocco. It is under the direct
control of the King, who
nominates its director. This
accounts for the difficulty
winning any gains experienced by
the workers employed in this
enterprise.

Five years ago, a very bitter strike
went on for 8 months and
resulted in the sacking of 850
workers. This time the miners of
OCP affiliates went on strike.
Many of the most active in this
movement are workers sacked by
OCP three years ago. Their
demands were for the
recognition of union rights, the
raising of wages and the
integration of the affiliates in the
main OCP organisation which
would allow workers to have
work contracts of a permanent
nature. The first strike happened
on 16th and 17th April and was
followed by other days of action
and demonstrations.

The nature of the class struggle in
Morocco is characterised by
strikes breaking out here and
there, with no coordination and
outside the control of any trade
union or political party. At Beni
Tadjit in the province of Figuig in
eastern Morocco, known as
forgotten Morocco because
poverty there has reached record
levels, the mass of the population
went out on strike on the 15th
April. All cafes were closed, as
were the small shops and
bakeries. Simmering discontent in
the town was expressed in the
demands against the
marginalisation of Beni Tadjit,
and for the building of a hospital
and the electrification of the poor
neighbourhoods on the edges of
the town.

In Tangier on 27th April workers
went out on strike for union
rights, "for unity, solidarity and
struggle". Unlike Beni Tadjit and
Figuig province, Tanger is one of
the most dynamic regions of
Morocco where a number of
transnational corporation have
set up, including Renault, with an
ultramodern factory. This was a
result in part of relocation from
Douai and Cl?on in France.

On 24th April, after a clash
between Islamist and secular
students at Fez University in
which an Islamist student
reportedly died of a bullet
wound, the student Mustapha
Meziani was arrested along with
two others. They were placed in
preventive detention and not
allowed to sit university exams.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister
and other high officials attended
the funeral of the Islamist
student. Mustapha stated that he
was completely innocent of
murder and went on a 72 day
hunger strike which led to his
death. He was not given medical
attention until he went into a
coma.

In another incident Mouad
Belghouat, who performs as the
rapper Al Haqed, was arrested for
assaulting a police officer and for
public drunkenness and
sentenced to four months. This
appears to have been a pretext to
detain him once again because of
his influential songs. His song
"Stop the silence" was very
popular amongst rebellious youth
during 2011 and he recently
served a one year prison
sentence for insulting the police
in his song "Dogs of the State."

As the Moroccan anarchist
Brahim Fillali noted in 2011, the
monarchy and the Islamists are in
close alliance, and Islamism and
Arabism are promoted as the
ideologies of the State. Thus, no
space is given to those in
Morocco who speak Berber
languages. The Saharawi people
of Western Sahara, which is
occupied by Morocco, have no
right to self-determination. Like
the Palestinians, they live behind
a fortified wall that is 2,700
kilometres long. Many live in
refugee camps. Demonstrations
and public meetings are banned.

With globalisation, the regime
encouraged transnationals to set
up shop in Morocco. In addition
to Renault, mentioned above, we
can also mention the Spanish
company Nufribel where workers
went out on strike in 2012.
Another company, also packaging
fruit and vegetables like Nufribel,
is the French outfit Soprofel Idyl.
Wages with these foreign
employers are low, work is short
term and precarious and there
are many accidents at work, as
well as sexual harassment of
female workers. Many workers
are also excluded from insurance
and pension schemes. When
workers organised at Soprifel
they were sacked. The Moroccan
State came to the rescue of
Soprifel, invoking Article 288 of
the Penal Code, which
criminalises the right to strike.
The French and Moroccan farm
bosses have been saying that
there are too many strikes and
that the unions are not
controlling their members. In
desperation, six workers went
on hunger strike and were
threatened with legal action.

In addition to welcoming in the
transnationals, the King and his
Islamist government are believed
to be doing a deal with the USA
which would mean the setting up
of an American military base in Tan.

Tan in southern Morocco. For
years, despite many protests,
Moroccan troops and US marines
have been carrying out joint
military exercises. The Moroccan
regime has also proposed the
setting up of another US base in
occupied Western Sahara. This was
embarrassing for the USA because
of the ongoing war between the
Polisario Front of Western Sahara
and the Moroccan state.

Morocco, like the rest of North
Africa and the Gulf States,
remains a powder keg that could
explode at any time. The Arab
Spring of 2011 could prove to be
a mere improvised rehearsal for
what is to come.