Public servants nationally strike, protest living costs crisis

Morocco’s Confederation of Democratic Labor organized a national general strike in the public service on Tuesday, in protest of rising living costs and a soaring inflation.

In addition to exercising their right to strike, public servants took to the streets to call out the ongoing rise of prices of goods and services.

Across various Moroccan cities, workers gathered in from of city municipalities to denounce the rise in prices, where they held the government fully responsible for the deteriorating social and economic condition of Moroccan families.

In Rabat, protesters from the Democratic Confederation for Labor’s members chanted anti-government slogans, and denounced the insufficient actions of Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch.

The confederation also requires of the executive to implement its pledges and commitments, contained in the April 30 agreement last year.

The latest data released by the High Commission for Planning paints a bleak picture for Moroccan households, revealing a distressing trend of declining confidence levels.

The commission’s research has shown that the household confidence index, which measures households’ opinions on standard of living, employment opportunities, and financial situations, has plummeted to its lowest level since the start of the study in 2008.

The index now stands at a dismal 46.3 points, representing a sharp decline from the previous year’s first quarter score of 53.7 points.

This research also shed light on the severe impact of high inflation rates on families, with almost all households, a staggering 98.7%, stating that they had experienced an increase in food prices over the past year.

The report showed an alarming 85.3% of families expressed that their standard of living had deteriorated over the same period, while only a meager 8.3% reported any improvement.

Although the government took a number of measures to attempt to curb the difficult economic situation, mostly sectorial, most Moroccans have yet to see it reflect on their daily lives.