Social dialogue deal to harm Morocco's textile sector competitiveness, professionals warn
Morocco, Economics, 5/14/2003

A Moroccan textile association warned that an agreement, signed recently between the government and social partners on labor grievances, risks to harm Moroccan firms' competitive edge.

Under the accord, Morocco will have the most expensive labor compared to competitors such as Turkey, Tunisia, and East European countries, said Salaheddine Mezour, head of the Moroccan Textile Association.

This might pose a problem, particularly in an environment of fierce competition, wherein prices are of great importance, he said. The accord, announced on May Day even, provides, inter alia, for a 10 percent increase in the Minimum wage (SMIG), higher family allowances, decrease in working hours from 48 to 44, longer holidays for nursing mothers and increase in compensations for dismissed workers.

The government, unions and employers also agreed on pending issues, including a new labor code, wherein workers and employers' rights will be heeded more equitably. Mezour urged the government to take necessary measure to ensure the reorganization of the textile sector. Enterprises alone cannot bear the costs of competition, he insisted, deploring that garment-making firms are already indebted and risk to undergo a 30 percent drop in exports and a 20 percent fall in production.

The association held last week a general assembly to assess the impact of the accord signed April 30 between the government, trade unions and the employers association. "We must work hard to restructure the sector, in order to take up challenges of the international market," he said.

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