Michoacan Sugarcane Farmers Demand Decent Pension; They Live on 5,000 Pesos a Month

ByMexico Solidarity

This article by Ernesto Martínez Elorriaga appeared in the August 18, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

[Editor’s Note: UMA pensions refers to pensions awarded based on a value calculated by the Mexican government, known as the Unit of Measurement and Update. The UMA is updated annually, meaning pensions are also adjusted to reflect inflation, but this adjustment is smaller than that of the minimum wage. Since 2018, the minimum wage has increased more than the UMA which means that using the UMA to calculate the pension instead of the minimum wage can result in a significantly smaller pension. In the case of sugarcane workers, they are receiving a pension which is less than 60% of the minimum wage. UMA pensions were also a signficant issue in the recent strike of CNTE teachers earlier this year.]

Morelia, Michoacan. More than 3,000 retired sugarcane workers from the Puruarán sugar mill in the municipality of Turicato are urgently demanding that federal government authorities and the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) increase their pensions. Currently, they only receive between 4,000 and 5,000 pesos per month, according to José Luis Barajas, Michoacán coordinator of the National Confederation of Pensioners and Retirees.

“We demand that pensions be calculated and paid in minimum wages and not in UMAS (Unit of Measurement and Update) pensions; that pensions be increased by at least 100 percent, that quality healthcare be provided, and that other social services be improved,” he told La Jornada.

He said that according to Article 123 of the Mexican Constitution and Article 170 of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) Law, no worker should receive a pension or retirement benefit less than the minimum wage; “currently, with the UMAS, it barely represents 60 percent of the minimum,” Barajas emphasized.

José Luis was a sugarcane producer in the Puruarán area, and his produce was sent to the Pedernales sugar mill, but since 2017, he’s received a minimal pension. “It’s not enough to support a family; we’re also provided partial medical care at our expense. That’s why we demand a decent healthcare system, especially for the elderly.”

He commented that there needs to be an urgent reform that also benefits active workers: “What’s happening is a mockery. Just a few weeks ago, a fellow sugarcane worker received his first pension for a monthly amount of 3,700 pesos, which isn’t even enough to eat.”

He said workers reject pension payments through pension funds (AFORES), which, since 1997, have become a business for a few capitalists.

The sugarcane pensioners’ demands have been sent to the President of the Republic Claudia Sheinbaum, the Congress of the Union, and the Michoacán Legislature, but there has been no response, he emphasized. “For workers in general, and not just sugarcane farmers, it is urgent that the privatization of pensions be reversed, with the creation of a genuine Pension Law that includes the establishment of a National Pension Institute, with contributions from the government, employers, and workers,” emphasized the member of the National Confederation of Pensioners and Retirees.

Barajas commented that a forum on the pension and social security system will be held on August 31st in the municipality of Puruarán, with the participation of specialists on the subject and other representatives of workers’ organizations from other parts of the country.