Five workers were injured after police dispersed a protest by former employees of the Sicomec textile company in Meknes, ending a demonstration linked to one of the city’s longest-running labor disputes.
The workers, who have maintained a sit-in in central Meknes for the past two years after losing their jobs, staged the protest during a music festival, raising banners and chanting slogans calling for a resolution to a labor dispute that has lasted for more than five years.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show police intervening to disperse the demonstrators.
Speaking to Hespress English, Hassan El Hassini, secretary of the Sicomec textile sector union in Meknes, said the protest was intended to draw attention to workers’ unresolved demands and what he described as the authorities’ neglect of the case.
“The city has spent significant amounts of money on the festival while workers have been waiting for a solution for five years,” he said. “Meknes today is a city in distress.”
El Hassini said the demonstrators sought to make their voices heard by festival attendees and visitors.
“We have the right, as workers who have been wronged and forgotten, to demand justice and an end to our marginalization,” he said.
He accused police of using excessive force during the intervention, saying five workers were taken to hospital for treatment.
He also alleged that female protesters were treated harshly despite their difficult social circumstances after years without work.
“Instead of holding those responsible accountable, the workers remain the weakest party,” El Hassini said. “Some of them worked for the company for 40 years. All we did was stand with the public and raise banners because these women workers have been forgotten for five years.”
The Sicomec dispute has become one of Meknes’ most prominent labor cases.
According to union groups, the company’s liquidation process began in 2012 and was followed by years of protests, legal proceedings and negotiations involving government officials.
The factory briefly resumed operations during the COVID-19 pandemic before closing permanently in November 2021.
Union representatives say many employees, some with up to four decades of service, lost both their jobs and access to social benefits after discovering that legally required social security contributions had not been paid.
They also claim the company had benefited from financial support from local authorities, as well as payment facilities for social security, water and electricity bills, without resolving workers’ outstanding rights, including eligibility for unemployment compensation.
For the past two years, former employees have continued their sit-in in makeshift plastic shelters near one of the company’s properties in central Meknes, close to the municipal headquarters and the Court of Appeal, demanding a settlement they say would restore their dignity.
The dispute has received backing from political parties and civil society organizations.
The local branch of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) has expressed “full solidarity” with the workers, criticizing authorities for what it described as the continued disregard of their legitimate demands and the suspension of dialogue.
A support committee bringing together representatives from several left-wing political parties and labor rights organizations has also been established to advocate for the workers’ cause.
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