MOROCCAN LABOR ELECTIONS: ANYONE BUT THE UNIONS

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000114 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND DRL/ILCSR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PGOV MO SUBJECT: MOROCCAN LABOR ELECTIONS: ANYONE BUT THE UNIONS ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Recent national elections held to determine union representation in the private sector resulted in a strong majority for non-union affiliated representatives and revealed a strong lack of confidence in Morocco's largest trade unions. Labor elections, which are held only once every six years, determine which trade unions will represent labor in direct negotiations with individual companies and sectors as well as the proportionality of union representatives in tri- partite collective bargaining talks on national issues including working hours, benefits, and minimum wage. The most recent elections indicate an eroding in workers confidence in the traditional unions which have dominated Moroccan labor since independence. We do not expect that the results of these elections will be predictive of the outcome for the upcoming municipal elections on June 12th. END SUMMARY. -------------- UNION ELECTIONS: WHY DOES IT MATTER? -------------- ¶2. (U) National elections for labor representatives were held from May 14 to 19 in over 8,487 businesses out of the 13,578 that were eligible, a 62 percent participation rate. The Moroccan Labor Code, reformed in 2004, requires that for each ten workers employed at a business, one union representative is elected. The representative is then responsible for submitting individual complaints about working conditions to the employer, and if left unresolved, to the government's labor inspector. The elections also help to determine which of the trade unions are the most representative and hence able to engage in collective bargaining at the enterprise level. At the national level the five most representative unions participate in the tri-partite talks between the government, the unions and business representatives which help set national labor conditions, and policy. Finally, the elections in part determine the indirect election of trade union and agricultural representatives to the Chamber of Councilors, Morocco's upper but institutionally weaker house of Parliament. ¶3. (U) According to unpublished figures that the Ministry of Labor passed to poloff, 81 percent or 498,468 of the 615,550 eligible workers participated. Approximately 18,063 representatives or delegates were elected as compared to 10,207 from the election in 2009. The election was also notable for being the first time that the agricultural sector elected representatives. -------------- ELECTION RESULTS: -------------- ¶4. (U) The most noticeable trend in the election was the overwhelming vote in favor of representatives with no union affiliations (NUA). NUA representatives won a sizable majority of the contests with 64 percent of the total vote, an increase from 53 percent in the 2003 election. The Union Marocaine de Travail (UMT) was once again the largest winner in the private sector with 14 percent of the vote; however the UMT experienced a dramatic decrease from the 24 percent it controlled in 2003. The Confederation Democratique de Travail (CDT) received 8 percent of the vote, down from 12 percent in the previous election. The Union General des Travailleurs, the governing Istiqlal party's union, took 6 percent, decreasing only slightly from 2003. The Union National du Travail au Maroc (UNTM), affiliated with the Islamist Party of Justice and Development, took nearly 4 percent an increase from its 1.6 percent in 2003. The Federation Democratique de Travail (FDT),allied with the Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP) took 2.8 percent up from a previous 2.2 percent. An additional 14 unions split the remaining 2 percent of the vote. ¶5. (U) According to press reports the CDT took overall first place among the labor elections for civil servants dominating the Ministry of Health. NUA candidates topped the list at the Ministry of Interior, the UMT at Agriculture, UGMT at Transport, while the FDT took first place at the Ministries of Education, Finance and Justice. ¶6. (U) Union leaders claimed to poloff that the strong showing of NUA representatives did not signal a weakening of union support. Rather, they argued workers were pressured into supporting NUA representatives by management who fielded the candidates from human resource personnel, supervisors and others who would represent management's interests. ¶7. (U) Of the 18,063 delegates elected, 3,213 or approximately 18 percent, were women. This number stands in favorable contrast to the current figure of less than one percent of women elected to municipal councils and even the Government of Morocco's (GOM) reservation of 12 percent for seats in the municipal elections scheduled for June 12th. The Ministry of Labor's figures also showed that 64 percent of the participating companies employed between 10 and 50 employees and only 8 percent had more than 250 employees. The voting workers represented the following sectors: 39 percent from the industrial sector, 14 percent from commerce, 6 percent from agriculture, 7 percent construction, 1 percent handicrafts, and 33 percent in the "other" category. ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: Moroccan trade unions are no longer the popular force they once were and they appear to increasingly be losing their legitimacy among workers. In recent years the unions have increasingly tied themselves to political parties. The failure of the unions to work in conjunction with one another appears to reflect the increasing lack of cooperation among political parties, to include those in the government. National strikes, with the exception of the strike against proposed reforms to the traffic code in March of 2009, have largely been short-lived, ineffective, and poorly coordinated. Critics point to the lack of democracy and transparency within the largest unions, noting that the UMT's secretary general has held the position for more than half a century. We do not believe that the overall level of participation or relative strength of union affiliated parties in the labor elections will be reflected in the upcoming municipal elections on June 12th. MILLARD