Working conditions in the export industry of northern Morocco: Legal framework and situation on the ground

• Author: Francisco BARROS RODRÍGUEZ,Rosa M. SORIANO MIRAS,Antonio TRINIDAD REQUENA
• Published date: 01 June 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12108
• Date: 01 June 2018

International Labour Review, Vol. 157 (2018), No. 2

Copyright © The authors 2018

Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2018

Working conditions in the export

industry of northern Morocco: Legal

framework and situation on the ground

Antonio TRINIDAD REQUENA,* Rosa M. SORIANO MIRAS*

and Francisco BARROS RODRÍGUEZ**

Abstract. Companies in northern Morocco that export manufactured goods and

services run on a production system characterized by high pressure, exible use of

labour, strict supervision and the challenging of certain labour rights. This article

studies the conditions of work at these enterprises on the basis of the theoretical

model of the “localized global economy”, drawing distinctions based on types of

enterprise, industry and occupational categories. The results show how changes to

the labour law in 200 4, which adopted the standards contained in international

conventions, have given more power to multinational enterprises.

The Moroccan Government has undertaken a profound, decades-long

effort to transform the economy and industrialize the country. While this

process began under the protectorate (with the establishment of the rst in-

dustries, transport infrastructure and dryland irrigation), it was from the 1980s

on that transformation began in earnest, with the implementation of the Struc-

tural Adjustment Programme (1983).1 Among its main aims were both the

economic stabilization of the country and trade liberalization and integration

in the world economy (García Ortiz and Jordán Galduf, 200 6), which remain

priorities to this day. In recent decades, a series of actions has been taken to

create an environment conducive to foreign direct investment, the most prom-

inent of which have been the adoption of the Moroccan Investment Charter

of 1995,2 the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development of 200 2,3

*

Department of Sociology, University of Granada; emails: atrinida@ugr.es; rsoriano@ugr.es.

** Department of Business, Marketing and Sociology, University of Jaén; email: fbarros@ujaen.es.

Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors, and

publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.

1 See Soriano Miras, Trinidad Requena and Kopinak (2015).

2 Outline Law No. 18-95 of 3 October 1995 (Ofcial Gazette No. 433 6, 6 December 1995).

3 Act No. 36-01 establishing the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development

(Ofcial Gazette No. 4980, 21 February 2002).

International Labour Review308

the Emergence Plan of 2005,4 the National Pact for Industrial Emergence5 for

2009 –2015 and the Industrial Acceleration Plan 2014–2020.6

The development of a modern transport network has played a key role

in attracting foreign investors to the Tangier-Tetouan region, as it keeps trans-

port costs between production sites and consumers low (Trinidad Requena et

al., 2015). The opening of the Tanger-Med port, with a capacity of 3 million

containers, extendable to 9 million once the second terminal is completed,7 is

particularly of note. This major port facility, soon to be linked with the main

industrial areas of the country thanks to the rst high-speed rail line in Mo-

rocco, has played a pivotal role in establishing the region on world cargo tran-

sit routes. Its strategic location in the Straits of Gibraltar, in close proximity to

the European Union, gives it a competitive advantage over other regions of

the world, with lower export costs. Thanks to its geographic proximity, invest-

ors in Europe can receive shipments in just a few days, which is crucial for

just-in-time production systems.8 Customers can thus swiftly adapt to chan-

ging consumer trends, as required by “fast fashion” products9 in the garment

industry. With its new logistics infrastructure, Morocco is now in an excellent

position for the production of goods requiring shorter supply chains (Geref

and Sturgeon, 2013).

Morocco now has ve export processing zones (EPZs), three of which

are in the Tangier-Tetouan region.

10

The fact that a company must have at least

70 per cent of its turnover attributable to exports in order to qualify for spe-

cial tax status indicates that the region has opted for an export-based indus-

trialization model. In this research, we have classied industrial rms by tax

status, location and registered identity, as follows:

• Foreign multinationals in the EPZ (such as Delphi, Roca, Valeo or Re-

nault, etc.) (brand-name companies).

• Foreign multinationals outside the EPZ (the industrial zone) identied

with a parent company (brand-name companies).

4

Industrial development programme put forward by the Government of Morocco beginning

in 2005 mainly to stimulate growth in specic sectors considered of strategic importance for exports,

http://www.fondationinvest.ma/Boiteaoutis/Documentation/Emergence.pdf [accessed 24 April 20 18].

5 Available at: http://www.orientalinvest.ma/telechargementchiers/industrie/pacte_emer

gence.pdf [accessed 10 April 2018].

6 Available at: http://www.mcinet.gov.ma/fr/content/plan-d’acceleration-industrielle [accessed

10 April 2018).

7 In TEU. Available at: http://www.tmpa.ma/activites-services/activite-conteneurs [accessed

10 April 2018].

8 Just-in-time methods aim to adjust production to meet current demand, thus increasing a

company’s productivity.

9 “Fast fashion” methods allow manufacturers to adapt quickly during production.

10 On the one hand, there is the Tanger Free Zone, which includes ve areas, and on the other,

Med Hub, consisting of EPZ ports 1 and 2, together with an export processing area outside the ports

(Fernández de Quincoces Marcos and Ocina Económica y Comercial de España in Rabat, 2014).