Workers die in garment factory in Morocco
Twenty-eight textile workers died in a workshop in the Moroccan city of Tangier on February 8. Reports say the victims included four sisters from a family in Fez.
The facility, which was in the basement of a residential building, 15 minutes from the city centre, flooded after torrential rain. There were also reports of a short-circuit and it’s not clear which of these incidents caused the fatalities.
Suggestions that the factory was clandestine have been disputed by a member of the Moroccan Textile and Clothing Indusrty Association (Amith), Adil Defouf. He told Spanish newspaper El País that undeclared workshops abound in the textile and garment sector in Morocco and across the global industry, but he said the company at the centre of this tragedy, named as A&M Confection was not one of them.
He said the company has been listed in official business records in Tangier since 2017, along with the name of its owner, Adil el Boullaili, who is reported to be in hospital.
“This wasn’t a company in the shadows,” Mr Defouf said, “and its employees were not being exploited. There is a lot of competition for labour here and if you don’t pay people the minimum wage, no one will show up for work.” He said minimum salary levels were the equivalent of €300 per month.
He blamed the authorities for the poor working conditions in the company. He said that there was inadequate investment in infrastructure and a lack of inspections.
