Mexico City, Mexico – A national strike by hundreds of teachers affiliated with Mexico’s National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) has entered its fourth day, paralyzing much of the country’s capital.
The mobilization – which opposes pension reforms – escalated on Wednesday when protesters broke into the headquarters of the Public Education Secretariat (SEP), damaging the government building and injuring at least two police officers.
With no end in sight to negotiations between union representatives and authorities, the ongoing demonstrations threaten to disrupt the World Cup, which begins one week from today.
The union has blocked highways connecting Mexico City to nearby cities, vandalized public monuments, and established a large encampment a few blocks from the presidential palace.
The CNTE is simultaneously deploying actions in at least four other states, with more regions expected to join in the coming days.
The CNTE’s central demand is the derogation of a 2007 reform to a law passed by Mexico’s social security institute dismantling a solidarity-based pension scheme and shifting workers into individually managed private accounts. Teachers are also demanding a 100% salary increase and the elimination of the USICAMM, the body that oversees teacher hiring and promotions.
Negotiations have been conducted jointly by Secretary of Government Rosa Icela Rodríguez, Education Secretary Mario Delgado, and the director general of the ISSSTE, but no agreements have been reached so far.
The three officials were formally authorized by President Claudia Sheinbaum to conduct and close negotiations on the government’s behalf, despite CNTE demands for a direct meeting with the president.
Secretary Rodríguez said the state’s ability to grant concessions is limited by fiscal constraints: “What cannot be done is due to a lack of budget, not a lack of will.”
Filiberto Frausto Orozco, a CNTE leader from Zacatecas, warned that if the government rejects their demands, “there will be no more negotiations.”
The union has also threatened to disrupt the FIFA World Cup inauguration, scheduled for June 11 at Estadio Ciudad de México.
Earlier this week, teachers blockaded Paseo de la Reforma and toppled statues of footballers installed to promote the tournament.
Sheinbaum campaigned on promises to address teachers’ labor grievances, but after one and a half years in office, her government has yet to deliver on the pension reform rollback the CNTE has long demanded.
On the streets, rank-and-file teachers say they are prepared for a prolonged fight. Saray López Alamillo, who has been in the classroom for six years and is an active CNTE member, expressed full support for the union’s escalation strategy.
“In my school we have talked about it and we are ready to take this fight to the end,” she told Latin America Reports.
For many teachers, the cost of protest is immediate and personal. The government docks wages for each day teachers miss class while demonstrating.
López Alamillo knows this firsthand: “Last year, they deducted 3,000 or 4,000 pesos from my paycheck for almost eight consecutive pay periods.”
The teacher added that the losses directly hurt her ability to cover basic household expenses.
For some teachers those deductions are enough to keep them home. For others, like López Alamillo, the financial punishment only sharpens their resolve.
With negotiations deadlocked and the World Cup opening a week away, the standoff is entering a critical phase. Neither side has shown signs of yielding.
Featured image description: Union members marched in Mexico City this week.
Featured image credit: CNTE via Facebook.
