Mexico’s Social Security Chief: Dialogue With Rank-and-File Workers “Floor by Floor” in IMSS Hospitals

ByNéstor Jiménez

This article by Néstor Jiménez originally appeared in the October 12, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. In the face of protests carried out in recent weeks by workers of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the director general of this federal agency, Zoé Robledo, announced the start of a process of listening to staff “floor by floor” to learn directly about the problems they detect in hospitals and health centers.

“We are going to listen directly to the workers about what affects them directly,” the federal official said this Monday.

He detailed that the review will cover “in particular what happens in hospitals and also in medical units. And we are not going to do that from an office, but directly where things happen, in the hospitals, in the warehouses too, in the workplaces.

The workers know what is missing on each floor, which equipment does not work, where more staff is needed. And that is why listening to each other is always the first step to solving things.

Zoé Robledo, IMSS Director General

Accompanied by the head of the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), Marath Baruch Bolaños, at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Secretariat of Governance, the IMSS director general explained that the wage increase agreed through the Social Security Union directly impacts workers’ pockets.

He maintained that the 6.8 percent overall increase is divided into 2.9 percent on the base salary scale, but stated that the rest, although it consists of benefits, is paid biweekly, since 3.9 percent corresponds to item 011, which consists of “housing rent assistance under the collective bargaining agreement.” He stressed that “it is paid biweekly as a fixed part of workers’ salaries, it has the condition of being tax-free, and the increase in that sense is reflected directly in what each worker receives.”

IMSS workers marching in Mexico City to demand better working conditions
IMSS workers marched from the Siglo XXI National Medical Center toward Eje 3 Sur Baja California to demand better working conditions, as well as more supplies for patients and the removal of their union leader, on October 1, 2026. Photo: Jair Cabrera Torres

Meanwhile, regarding the outreach to workers, he said it will be done directly in the hospitals and warehouse centers, as well as in each medical unit.

The review will cover “the supply of materials, such as wound-care supplies, gauze, syringes, needles, dressings, catheters, gloves and consumables for infusion pumps; the filling of prescriptions, with codes with insufficient inventory in hospital pharmacies.”

Regarding the staffing situation, they will review “vacancies, 08 and 02 contracts, and coverage in each category and service,” as well as medical equipment with surgical instruments, robotics, ventilators and stretchers.

They will also verify the state of furniture such as chairs, desks and other administrative furniture; and the upkeep of elevators, air conditioning, medical gases and plumbing installations.

Recalling that IMSS is “the number one employer in the country,” he added that “working conditions” will be reviewed, with soap and paper towels in restrooms, locker rooms, meals and food quality, as well as “organization and management.”

He committed to having workers define the priorities for attention in each hospital, as well as to establishing timelines and those responsible for them.

In cases where a medication is not available, he noted that the website recetacompleta.gob.mx has been enabled, as well as the telephone number 800 953 22 18, to receive information on when the supply will be resolved.

IMSS Wage Increase Put to a Vote

For his part, the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare announced that the federal agency will accompany the consultation process in which nearly half a million workers will participate. The wage increase, which was already approved at a union Congress, will be put to a vote.

The October 14 consultation will have some 670 ballot collection points, at which 476,000 workers with the right to vote are expected to participate.

“There will be a deployment of verifiers so that this consultation is carried out in accordance with labor norms,” and they will confirm that the call issued by the union adheres to the law, he added.

Faced with the demand to remove their union leaders, he noted that “the secretariat neither installs nor removes leaders,” since that corresponds to a process that is solely up to the workers.