Royal Air Maroc Restructuring Plan Faces Union Pushback Over Job Cuts

"As a union, our position is that of all Moroccans, namely to defend the rights of the 858 mothers and fathers of families who refuse to find themselves in precariousness. Indeed, we cannot remain silent, because this decision risks setting a precedent for other state-owned companies. While we are aware of the difficulties facing the aviation sector in Morocco, we must react because our country does not offer a social safety net like in the West and because the people who will be laid off will only receive a small seniority allowance that will condemn them to precariousness," Allal Baba Lahcen told Médias24.

He says he is not against the 858 departures that are necessary, but the people concerned must benefit from the same rights as the similar operation that took place in 2011, namely within the framework of voluntary departures and certainly not as proposed on Thursday through economic layoffs. "Knowing that there is a big difference between downsizing and carrying out outright layoffs, we are demanding a voluntary departure plan with all the related rights and no brutal layoffs," the union representative of the 2,200 UMT unionized employees of the RAM group insists.

"If the 850 layoffs are nevertheless validated, we will file appeals, the content of which we will reveal in due course, because we must organize ourselves to thwart this iniquitous plan," he warns.

"Even if we are not part of the works council, we would have hoped to be consulted and not to find ourselves faced with a fait accompli when there were other possible solutions," commented a line pilot, member of the Moroccan Association of Airline Pilots.