While they were expecting a reaction from the supervisory ministry after their sit-in on March 21, in front of the annex of the Ministry of the Interior in Rabat, the taxi unions intend to observe a new walkout. According to them, the ministry did not keep the promises announced at the meeting of January 18, 2023 concerning the resolution of certain points as a matter of urgency, nor has it opened a dialogue with the professionals since. Point.
It is certain that the road transport sector, in particular that of small and large taxis, is experiencing real congestion due, among other things, to the difficult economic situation that the country is going through, the rise in fuel prices, in addition to the anarchy that accentuates the crisis. To remedy the situation, the professionals submitted a package of demands to their supervisory ministry.
It includes the granting of approval to professional drivers according to conditions taking into account seniority, social status and the absence of an operating permit, which is the case in many cities and regions. And there is also the fight against clandestine transport via the applications, had specified in March the National Coordination of the representative bodies of the transport sector by taxis in Morocco, thus calling on the government to assume its responsibilities to guarantee fair competition.
But in vain. These grievances have not been realized. To exert pressure, the unions observed a sit-in in Rabat on March 21, which apparently did not lead to the expected results, in particular the realization of the demands raised, or at least the opening of a sectoral dialogue with this category of road transport professionals.
In this regard, unions in the taxi sector are planning to launch new forms of protest, attributing this to the “lack of responsefrom the Ministry of the Interior to urgent requests from professionals, and its “‘ inability to resolve» outstanding issues from previous dialogue sessions.
National Secretary General of the Democratic Organization of Transport and Logistics (ODTL) and member of the Coordination, Mustapha Chaoune indicated that ” unions have carried out various forms of protest in an effort to make the voice of professionals heard in government“. But “the ministries concerned with the sector have never responded to the claim file that has been raised with them, which has caused social tension in the sector“, he confided in a statement toMoroccoLatestNews.
Chaoune explained that“taxi drivers suffer from several difficult social problems, which require sitting on the table of dialogue in order to solve them togethere “. He also pointed out that “in the absence of sectoral dialogue, unions will tend to engage in new forms of protest, until at least the point of social dialogue is reached”, before concluding that “solutions have been developed and are ready, but await implementation“.
The Coordination had called on the government in March to simplify the administrative procedures to allow taxi professionals to benefit from aid for the renewal of the fleet and to give the opportunity to holders of long-term contracts, or to those who operate people’s permits deceased, or to those who have legal proceedings, to renew their dilapidated cars, calling on the regional councils and the provincial councils to assume their responsibility to provide subsidies to renew the fleets in the image of what is done in the region of the Oriental.
Ultimately, the same Coordination representing road transport professionals by taxi calls on the government to ensure the continuity of the contractual relationship, and not to depend on the fate of license holders and their moods, by canceling the obligation withdrawal and stopping of vehicles included in Ministerial Circular No. 750.
It is also a question of ensuring the stability of the driver in his work by stipulating employment contracts annexed to the standard contracts within the framework of the continuity of the contractual relationship of the operator, specifies the Coordination which requires the creation of a Council Superior of Transport as a constitutional and inclusive institution expressing the concerns of road transport professionals.