Morocco’s health minister has summoned the country’s most representative labor unions to an emergency meeting next week, as a wave of youth-led demonstrations injects new urgency into stalled reforms of the public health sector.
According to multiple union sources, Health and Social Protection Minister Amine Tehraoui invited national union leaders to meet on October 8 to resume discussions on the implementation of the July 23, 2024 agreement between the government and health workers.
That deal included promises to overhaul decrees dating back to 2017 governing nurses and health technicians. But union leaders now expect the agenda to expand under pressure from the street.
“The recent protests will set the tone for these talks,” one senior union official told Hespress, pointing to the mass mobilizations of the self-styled “Gen Z 212” movement.
The youth-driven demonstrations, which erupted in cities nationwide, have amplified demands for stronger public services, especially in health and education.
Unions had long pressed the government to accelerate reform of the nursing statute, with three key demands: recognition of seniority through “additional years,” the creation of an advanced health cadre, and the integration of former nurse-administrators.
They are also demanding new decrees on compensation for health programs, changes to rules for assistant nurses, and higher pay for on-call and mandatory service.
Union coalitions stress that wider categories of health staff, technicians, administrators, blood agency employees, and workers in public drug and health agencies, should benefit from the same reforms.
Pending issues also include recognition of supervisors for clinical training, unresolved disputes involving public health graduates, and the creation of a new corps for health assistants such as ambulance technicians.
The Tehraoui ministry has promised repeatedly that amendments to the 2017 decrees would be scheduled “within weeks,” but union leaders say they are still waiting for official confirmation.
The minister has stepped up his public appearances since the outbreak of protests, including field visits and a rare live appearance before parliament’s social sectors committee.
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