Trade unions are not welcome in the Tangier export free zone. Employers seem opposed to any union activity and do not hesitate to fight it by all means. This is what the workers of the company Electrical Components International (ECI), which specialises in the production of cables and electronic components, have just discovered, having unfairly dismissed ten employees in January who wanted to form a union office within the company.

"As soon as it was informed of the creation of the said office, the administration proceeded to dismiss its members as well as other employees whose only crime is being former trade unionists. The worst part is that the management justified these dismissals with fictitious reasons such as the incompetence of certain workers, even though they have more than 10 years of experience, or for inciting violence within the company, as was the case for me and another female worker", Mohamed Charki, a member of a union, told us before continuing: "But the ECI administration did not stop there. It called on the services of a private security company to force the dismissed staff not to return to their workstations. The agents of the latter did not hesitate to savagely beat these dismissed workers, some of whom were transported to the hospital in critical condition under the benevolent gaze of the local authority agents. Worse, this same company did not hesitate to make threats against the other workers to force them to disassociate themselves from us, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the Moroccan Constitution, the labour legislation in force, and the principles stipulated in international conventions relating to human, economic, and social rights".

But why this relentlessness against a right guaranteed as much by the constitutional text as by the law? "ECI does not want a union office because it does not want to engage in responsible dialogue on the employees' demands, which essentially relate to compliance with the labour legislation in force", our source revealed to us. According to them, violations and breaches of the Labour Code are legion. "The company does not correctly pay for hours worked. It pays us for 7 and a half hours of work even though we work 8 hours a day. Likewise, for overtime and hours worked at night and on weekly rest days, workers are entitled to neither an increase nor any remuneration. The same applies to compliance with health and safety standards at work, as accidents are frequent due to the equipment and materials used in production", indicated Mohamed Charki.

The company's staff recruitment policy was also pointed out by our source. According to them, this policy speaks volumes about the indifference that ECI management shows regarding the protection of workers' rights. "This company, recently installed in the free zone and whose headquarters are in Saint-Louis, Missouri, often recruits via temporary contracts or ANAPEC, which in no way guarantee job stability since their lifespan does not exceed 6 months for the first type and two years for the second. Worse, these contracts make it possible to avoid paying social charges. Moreover, many female workers are registered neither with the CNSS nor with any mutual insurance company".

Contacted by us, the company in question did not deem it useful to respond to our calls. A member of its human resources department did not deign to acknowledge the messages we sent them.

Yet, the situation of ECI workers is not unique. A report entitled "Morocco, free zones, workers' rights and union strategies" established by the International Labour Office (ILO) also noted the anti-union practices of employers in the zone and the passivity of the administration regarding the application of legislation on trade union freedoms. Indeed, employers do not tolerate the creation of union offices in companies, and administrative authorities do not assume their responsibilities regarding compliance with labour legislation.

The practices most detrimental to the right to organise remain, among others, the dismissal of unionised workers or those who attempt to organise into unions; the non-execution of judgments in favour of employees; the limitation of the mobility of union officials within companies; and the prohibition of union meetings within them, the study revealed.

Practices that create a climate of terror among employees throughout the zone, since dismissed trade unionists, being placed on blacklists, automatically find themselves forbidden from contracting other jobs in the Tangier free zone.