Merging KNOPS into Social Security sparks union anger, amid threat of protest

Agadir24

The Moroccan Labor Union called for the immediate withdrawal of draft law 23-54, which provides for the integration of members of the National Fund for Social Security Organizations (CNOPS) into the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), and for it to be discussed within the framework of social dialogue.

The union announced its readiness to escalate and protest against the controversial draft law, which it accused the government of formulating in a “unilateral” manner, outside the social dialogue institution.

According to what the General Secretariat of the Moroccan Labor Union reported in a statement, this project, “which was cooked up in the dead of night and in haste,” has the sole concern of “regressing and undermining the rights of all members, both male and female, without the government paying any attention to the structural relationship of the fund with its members and partners from cooperatives and health institutions.”

The same union accused the government of “disregarding the interests of more than 3 million insured persons and beneficiaries who are members of CNOPS and tampering with the fate of hundreds of users and executives in this social institution,” stressing that this “contradicts the constitutional principles that impose a participatory approach in enacting public and social policies, and blatantly violates the foundations of social dialogue.”

The same trade union center added that “the components of the government concerned with this important project are dealing with the health fate of hundreds of thousands of female and male employees in public administrations and public and semi-public institutions, with a suspicious mood and haste,” denouncing the absence of “consultation and dialogue with representatives of these groups or with the trade union movement, which is constitutionally authorized to advocate for the interests of the working class and also on all major social issues.”

Accordingly, the General Secretariat of the Moroccan Labor Union stressed the need to immediately withdraw Draft Law 23-54 and open an urgent and responsible dialogue within the Social Dialogue Institution, in order to negotiate all the issues raised, in order to ensure the proper implementation of the social protection system.

This comes at a time when the government council, which will meet tomorrow, Thursday, September 19, 2024, is preparing to discuss and approve the draft law amending and supplementing the law on compulsory basic health insurance and enacting special provisions, submitted by the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Ait Taleb, in order to submit it to the two houses of Parliament to complete the approval procedure.

According to Ait Taleb’s introductory memorandum, the draft law aims to adopt a single management body for basic compulsory health insurance systems, by merging public sector employees into the National Social Security Fund, and transferring students who benefit from health coverage to another health system.