A delegation from the Foreign Workers Association (Als Mcl) within Movimento Cristiano Lavoratori, an Italian workers' movement focused on labor issues, social justice, and supporting workers' rights, will embark on a mission to Morocco from January 9 to 11. The delegation will hold several meetings between Fez and Rabat with the leaders of Morocco's national trade union center, the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM). The mission will also include a meeting with the President of the House of Councilors of Morocco and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), Enaam Mayara. This visit follows the signing of a protocol between Als MCL, Asl MCL Sicilia, Consorzio Umana Solidarietà scs, and the UGTM of Fez, aimed at facilitating and supporting the entry of workers from Morocco into Italy. It also seeks to assist companies in meeting their manpower needs, wrote Italian news agency ANSA. The agreement with UGTM foresees the creation of training courses to establish «worker corridors» in the Mediterranean area, with the prospect of organizing professional and civic-linguistic training aimed at third-country citizens residing abroad. The Italian workers' movement promises to organize the training according to ministerial guidelines, identify partner companies that will employ the trained candidates, facilitate entry measures provided by the Italian State, and arrange social housing. The UGTM of Fez, on the other hand, will be responsible for supporting and financing the training courses in Morocco, as well as recruiting potential worker-students who already have relevant experience in the economic sectors of interest to the companies that will proceed with hiring in Italy. «We are grateful to UGTM for organizing these three days in Morocco to move, as we say, 'from words to deeds,' with a shared path and mutual understanding. Together, we have aligned our goals, placing dignified and legal work at the center», explains Paolo Ragusa, national president of Als MCL. «Foreign workers in Italy play a fundamental role in the labor market, responding to a constant need for manpower. However, there is a misalignment between labor supply and demand, as well as between the skills required and those actually possessed by workers, especially regarding qualified professional roles», continues Ragusa.
