MOROCCO, February 22 - Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch on Monday called trade unions and the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) to hold the first session of social dialogue on Thursday.

This session aims at "committing to a serious and responsible reflection on how to institutionalize social dialogue to make it enforceable and regular," Akhannouch said at the opening of the 6th edition of the Parliamentary Forum on Social Justice.

It also pursues "agreement on a national charter of social dialogue determining various stakeholders' rights and duties, by setting out rules for dialogue structures and institutions and regulating operation and cooperation modalities between various social partners."

The government chief stressed that this session will be held to deliberate on the social priorities that hold the attention of private and public sectors' working class representatives, together with those of businessmen, in the short, medium and long terms.

On this occasion, Akhannouch said he was totally convinced of the spirit and the sincere national referential that animates all the components of this dialogue, describing it as an illustration of "our nation's supreme interest primacy over any other consideration."

According to him, this is especially true "since we are facing multiple and varied challenges" in front of which there is no other choice than solidarity and cooperation in order to consolidate social peace and ensure social justice and human dignity as essential components of the social state whose pillars have been established by His Majesty the King.

The Head of Government also stressed that previous government experiences have shown that the completion of the pillars of the social state requires the establishment of regular and periodic bases for social dialogue.

In this respect, he noted that for social dialogue to play its role, the government and all social partners must work together in the framework of respect for the constitutional duties incumbent on them.

He further noted that the Government intends to develop a new vision of social dialogue institutionalization and its expansion to current issues, by strengthening trade unions' position in this area and providing them with the necessary means and mechanisms to promote association rights and freedom.

The objective behind this social dialogue is to contribute to the emergence of a new social pact, in accordance with HM the King's guidelines, between the government and the social partners likely to contribute to the stabilization of the socio-economic situation in order to achieve social development without harming any party and without prejudice to the duties and rights guaranteed to each partner in the dialogue, Akhannouch said.

"Partners will find all the necessary support to protect workers' fundamental rights, as we guarantee decent working conditions, social protection, and deepen democratic participation of the parties involved in the dialogue," he noted.

The government adopts a honest approach in order to fully assume responsibility in a new era of social dialogue and interact with the demands of the various components, while taking into consideration the difficult situation that the national economy is going through due in particular to the negative fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effects of the current climatic conjecture in the agricultural field, concluded Akhannouch.

MAP 21 February 2022