The strikers require the ceiling of the fuel rate and the profit margins of the hydrocarbon distributors since the flight of prices at the pump, accentuated by the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Le Monde with AFP
Wednesday, March 9, Moroccan road carriers have decided to extend forty-eight hours their strike observed for three days to protest the rise in fuel prices, including diesel, on the back of social grumbling, has We learned from union sources. “We extend the strike because our demands have remained unanswered by the government,” said AFP Mounir Benazouz, Secretary General of the National Union of Road Transport Professionals, affiliated with the Democratic Confederation of Labor (CDT), One of the main union centers of Morocco.
The strikers require the ceiling of the fuel rate and the beneficiary margins of hydrocarbon distributors since the pump price, accentuated by the Russian invasion in Ukraine. A sixth union has joined since Tuesday to the Movement, followed by 75% of the merchandise carriers, according to Mr. Benazouz. Taxis are also affected by the strike, but to a lesser degree. In response, the Ministry of the Interior assured that it had taken the necessary arrangements to “ensure the free movement of persons and property”.
Social discontent
The Minister of Transport, Mohamed Abdeljalil, has promised “to present the ceiling of the price of fuels to the government and to respond in ten days,” said a trade union leader, Moulay Ahmed Filali, at the Arabic-speaking newspaper Al Alam. The Liberal government of Aziz Akhannouch – a businessman who built his fortune on the distribution of hydrocarbons – has been criticized for several weeks for his inaction before the rise of social discontent.
“Big field of mine” for the government, wrote on Wednesday, in one, the daily the Economist, which warns that the fare to the pump – liberalized since 2015 – risks flying away. In Casablanca, the economic megacity, the liter of unleaded gasoline is around the 13 dirhams (1,21 euro) and that of diesel (diesel) exceeds 11 dirhams, record levels. Price climbing does not affect that fuels, but also basic commodities, which caused events – for the moment scattered – against the high life of life.
In addition, after two years of health crisis, the kingdom is struck by a severe drought, while its economy is very dependent on the agricultural sector, the first contributor to GDP, up to 14%.