Morocco bread strike hits homes

Bakers say flour prices have risen but bread prices have not

Bakers in Morocco have gone on strike to protest at the government's refusal to allow bread prices to rise.

On the strike's second day there are already bread shortages in the capital.

The issue is extremely sensitive, with the government worried at any negative public reactions to what would be a first price rise for 14 years.

During a bakers' strike in 1983 public riots occured in the major cities. But the BBC's Pascale Harter in Rabat says this is unlikely to happen this time.

Vital

She says that unlike in many other parts of the world, bread is a key component of Moroccan meals and some people on the streets do support the government's decision.

The price of flour keeps going up but that of bread does not Baker El Mamar El Arbi

"The government is right, in protecting the Moroccan people. If they want to put the price of bread up they better put salaries up too," a woman told the BBC in the capital, Rabat.

Another woman outside a Rabat patisserie said: "I don't think they should put prices up. It's already expensive, it's something everyone buys and people just can't afford it."

Strike

However, for strikers like El Mamar El Arbi, who has been a baker for more than 50 years, they have had enough.

"The price of flour keeps going up but that of bread does not change neither does the situation of us bakers who make it," he said.

He says that they have managed a complete shut down and this strengthens their arm in any negotiations.

The strikers do have some support.

One Rabat woman said she hoped they were successful.

"If they put the price up they'll only put it up by a few centimes, they won't put it up a lot, because the population would never accept that. It's good to put up the price," she said.

The right to strike is enshrined in the Moroccan constitution, for all citizens but an article on the penal code forbids workers from striking.

Human rights groups and the labour movement in Morocco have long been lobbying for the article to be changed.

But in the meantime, bakers are saying "let them eat cake".