Sheinbaum: Education Secretariat Will Meet with CNTE Teachers During 72 Hour Strike

ByJorge Salcedo

This article by Jorge Salcedo originally appeared in the March 18, 2026 edition of El Sol de México.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) will meet with the workers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) who are traveling to Mexico City to demonstrate for 72 hours demanding the repeal of the ISSSTE Law and better salaries.

In a morning press conference, Sheinbaum stated that members of the teachers’ union have held meetings in the federal entities on repeated occasions with state education authorities and governors in order to make progress on their demands.

On this occasion, the president stated that the meeting with the CNTE teachers’ union during this 72-hour strike will be with SEP (Ministry of Public Education) officials and that they will address the demands that are “feasible to meet.” Sheinbaum also asked that the teachers’ demonstrations during these three days be peaceful.

The reactivation of the National Strike launched by the CNTE this Wednesday, March 18, will begin with a march from the Angel of Independence to the Zócalo in Mexico City, possibly passing by some embassies, according to a statement from Section 9.

Teachers are demanding the repeal of the ISSSTE Law in the country, as well as some points of the 2019 education reform, and are seeking a salary increase that they have been demanding since 2024.

“At this time, the only way to break the salary cap, as we did in 2024, achieve the standardization of benefits, and recover the solidarity and intergenerational retirement, is through actions of a national nature, strengthening the unity of the education workers,” the CNTE statement detailed.

Regarding the teachers’ threats to boycott the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in three cities in the country, the president said that there is ongoing dialogue with the teachers to address their demands.