Akhannouch celebrates 'historic' April 2024 wage agreement, a 'win for Moroccan professionals'

Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch stressed that “the signing of the April 2024 round agreement is a historic event and a new step towards improving the conditions of the working class, which King Mohammed VI has always urged to pay attention to in order to achieve development and ensure social equity and national solidarity.”

Akhannouch added in a statement to the press today that “the government has been keen, since its inauguration, on joint and responsible work with its social and economic partners, within the framework of institutionalizing social dialogue, in order to implement the lofty royal vision that raised it to the rank of a strategic option.”

“The government expressed its strong political will to improve the financial situation of the country and support the purchasing power of Moroccans working in the public and private sectors, across different sectors.”

Akhannouch supervised, on Monday in Rabat, the signing of the April 2024 round agreement between the government and the union centers, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises and the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This is the culmination of the outcomes of this round of social dialogue, which the government has established as a strategic tool to activate the lofty royal vision.

The agreement, the government highlights in a statement, “is the result of efforts made by all parties, through proposals and approaches that were presented to reach acceptable solutions to the demands presented to improve the conditions of employees and preserve the competitiveness of national enterprise and its social obligations, as well as a continuation of the implementation of the obligations included in the April 30, 2022 agreement, which laid the foundations for social dialogue.”

The April 2024 round measures concern the general increase in wages for workers in the public sector who have not yet benefited from the increase by the amount of one thousand dirhams net per month, and reducing the income tax (IR) for all employees and wage earners with a monthly effect of up to MAD 400 for middle-income citizens, with an increase in “SMIG” by a new 10% in this round, in addition to a previous increase by a similar percentage, thus increasing the minimum wage by 20% since the coming of this government, then raising the agricultural “SMAG” by a new 10% in this round, in addition to a previous increase of 15%, therefore raising the minimum agricultural wage by 25% since the coming of the current government.

In light of these measures that confirm the democratic and social orientation of the current government, the statement highlights: “The number of beneficiaries of improved income, since the start of the social dialogue, has reached 4 million and 250,000; Among them are 1,250,000 employees in the public sector, and 3 million employees in the private sector.”

In parallel with the measures to raise income, the April 2024 round enabled consensus on the basic principles for carrying out pension reform, which will be further discussed, with the aim of presenting it to Parliament during the fall session of 2024. While the draft regulatory law for the strike will be presented to Parliament during the current spring session.

The government, in consultation with its social and economic partners, will also study some laws related to labor legislation, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.