CNTE WILL RESPOND TO GOVERNMENT OFFER ON SATURDAY

This article by Laura Poy and Alexia Villaseñor appeared in the May 29, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier leftist daily newspaper.

What are the CNTE’s Demands?
Immediate repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law; restoration of a solidarity-based, collective, and intergenerational pension system; the full recognition of retirement based on years of service (28 for women and 30 for men) instead of the age of 65; the payment of pensions based on the minimum wage rather than on UMAs; the elimination of AFOREs as a privatization model (AFOREs are private companies who manage pensions as individual accounts, extremely restrictive and profitable for finance capital); and a profound restructuring of ISSSTE to restore its social character.

Mexico City. At the conclusion of its National Representative Assembly (ANR), the leadership of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) estimated that it will announce its response to the federal government’s five-point proposal by Saturday at the latest. This is once the consultation with the mobilized teacher rank-and-file is completed. The consultation will also include the collection of minutes to certify the results.

In a press conference after the recess of her National Representative Assembly (ANR), teacher Yenny Araceli Pérez, general secretary of Section 22 of Oaxaca, warned that the government’s proposal does not address their central demand, which is the repeal of the 2007 law of the Institute of Social Security for State Workers (ISSSTE).

She specified that the union leadership “is certainly on the side of the rank and file, and they will be the ones to determine the course of action.” The leader did not rule out lifting the sit-in, but clarified that it will be “a decision of the mobilized rank and file.”

Professor Isael González, leader of Section 7 in Chiapas, reiterated that the proposal does not resolve the demand for the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE law, and therefore, “out of respect for the rank and file,” both the proposal and the action plan will be submitted to them for consultation, and “they will decide whether or not we remain in the Zócalo and what actions to take.”

In front of the CNTE national headquarters, located at Belisario Domínguez 32 in the historic center of the nation’s capital, teacher Elvira Veleces, general secretary of Section 14 of Guerrero, stated that “as long as there is no path defined by the rank and file, the fraternal call to all colleagues is to join the sit-in, because the demands are just and involve not only the teachers, but all state workers.”

He indicated that part of the consultation they will conduct with the rank and file is to define the actions they will take on June 1st. 

For his part, Professor Filiberto Frausto, union leader of Section 34 in Zacatecas, reaffirmed that they are open to work and negotiation and hope that President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo will resume negotiations. “If the table (with the President) is there tomorrow, we will go to her tomorrow.”

He clarified that the request for the president’s presence is a means to achieve their demands, not an end in itself.

Teacher Eva Terán of Section 18 in Michoacán reported that there will be mobilizations in Mexico City this Friday, but the strategic locations where they will be held will be announced later.