The National Coordinator of the Education Workforce (CNTE) was unable to achieve its requested dialogue with President Claudia Sheinbaum this Thursday. Police were deployed to the large demonstration march, which began at 4 a.m., and a metal barrier was erected around the National Palace. After several attempts to overcome the blockade and gas repression by operatives, the teachers continued on their way to the House of Deputies meeting. There, they plan to stage a 48-hour sit-in to protest the lack of implementation of an agreement with the federal government on education and labor issues, primarily demands for the abolition and reform of the current pension system.
As teachers protested outside, Sheinbaum assured inside the National Palace that several states had an open dialogue table to address the request. “If many of their demands are met, they want to use violence to reach the National Palace,” he elaborated, announcing that work on alternatives to repealing the ISSSTE reforms continues as they do not have the resources to realize their demands. “Various options are being considered, such as the creation of an employee pension fund.In the case of educational reform, we have already proposed not to impose it,” he said, also referring to conversations with teachers about teaching evaluations.
The new sit-in is scheduled to last until November 14th and will be set up inside the U.S. Capitol starting at 9 a.m. The National Supreme Court reported that the mobilization affected operations in the vicinity of the building, forcing the plenary to move to an alternative headquarters at 1508 Calle Revolucion.
However, the CNTE marchers had already warned last May when they declared an indefinite strike that they would not accept any proposal other than repealing the ISSSTE law. The request prioritizes a return to the old joint pension system, rather than the privatization of private accounts and afores, which abolishes lifetime pensions. Additionally, they are calling for a return to retirement benefits based on years of service rather than age, and a 100% increase in pay. The government’s negotiating team answered then and now as well, that there was not enough money. The previous strike lasted 24 days and caused havoc in the capital, but was only called off thanks to several concessions from the regime, including freezing or lowering the retirement age and raising salaries by 10%.
Now, the union is accusing Sheinbaum’s executive team of not doing its job. “The federal government has violated the agreement it signed with the CNTE,” the teachers stressed in a statement. They also denounce the lack of resolution of their demands in state dialogues, the lack of political will to address issues in the education sector, and the repression of trade unions through intimidation and harassment by the regime.
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