Rabat, Morocco(TMT)-Thousands people took to the streets of Casablanca, exactly at Ennasr square in Derb Omar, “to show their dissatisfaction with the unilateral policies made by the Benkirane government.”
The protest was organized by four trade union confederations, namely the Democratic Labour Confederation (known by its French acronym CDT), the Moroccan Labour Union (known by its French acronym UMT), the General Union of Workers of Morocco (known by its French acronym UGTM) and the Democratic Labour Federation (known by its French acronym FDT).
Among their demands, the protesters called upon the authorities for the establishment of a participatory approach when dealing with the reforming of the pension system, the implementation of other provisions of the Agreement of April 26, 2011, increasing the threshold of non-taxable income to 6,000 dirhams, and the establishing of a ministerial unit to eradicate the social environment in Moroccan companies production units.
Among the signs the protesters hold up, the one could read the following:
“General increase in wages and pensions”, “Drop the tax burden on wages and increase wages,” “increase the threshold of non-taxable income to 6,000 dirhams”, “Respect for trade union rights and labor code”, ” Remove Article 288 of the Penal Code.”
A huge discrepancy was witnessed when it came to estimating the figures. According to security officials, the total number of protesters stood between 9000 and 10000, while the confederations stated that at least 40000 persons took to the streets.
Goud.ma on the other hand said the number stood around 4000.
The Moroccan Times.
