CNTE Strike Day 3: Teachers vs Privatized Pensions

ByJay Watts

Photos by Jay Watts.

Striking teachers of Mexico’s Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación spent the last day of their third day national strike protesting at the headquarters of the private managers of the Afore pension funds throughout the country, including large private banks on Mexico City’s Avenida Paseo de la Reforma. A key demand of the teachers is that the privatized pension system, modeled on former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s pension reforms, be returned to a public system.

Statement after the photos.

The CNTE Takes Action at the AFORES & Denounces the Priority of Financial Capital Over Workers

In the framework of the national day of struggle, contingents of the National Coordinator of Education Workers #CNTE held actions at the headquarters of various OUTFAIRS in the country, as part of a direct protest against the model of individual accounts imposed by the ISSSTE 2007 Act, which turned the right to retirement into a business for financial capital.

Education workers note that these institutions manage saving millions of workers under schemes that prioritize corporate profitability over social security, generating insufficient pensions, uncertainty and precaution in retirement.

The action in the AFORES has a clear political character: to denounce the systematic deprivation of labor rights and to highlight the role of the financial system in the pension crisis.

In this context, the CNTE vigorously questions the decision of the President of the Republic to meet with representatives of financial capital in Cancun, while maintaining the lack of direct attention to the most felt demands of millions of public sector workers.

For the democratic judiciary, this sign confirms that the federal government prioritizes dialogue with economic interests over those who maintain the country’s public services, deepening discontent and indignation among workers.

The actions were replicated in different states, as part of a national strategy to make the conflict more visible and push for a fundamental solution, which is necessary through the repeal of the ISSSTE Act 2007 and the recovery of a supportive, public and dignified social security system.

The CNTE reiterates that the fight will continue to escalate as long as there are no real answers, and that the democratic magisteria will remain mobilized alongside other sectors affected by the neoliberal pension model.

WORKERS SAVINGS ARE NOT GOODS!
NO UMAS, NO AFORES, SOLIDARITY SOCIAL SECURITY!
IF THERE IS NO SOLUTION, YOUR BALL WILL NOT ROLL!
UNITED AND ORGANIZED, WE WILL PREVAIL!

What are AFORES?
AFOREs (retirement fund administrators) are private companies who manage pensions as individual accounts, extremely restrictive and profitable for finance capital: they were introduced in 1997 and based on the privatized pensions introduced in Chile by the fascist Pinochet. Recent figures reveal 51% of AFORE funds are used to buy Mexican state debt, which means that Mexican citizens are paying significant commissions for a private pension system where finance capital invests over half of their money in sovereign bonds. Many unions and workers organizations have called for the return of a public pension system, with the CNTE suggesting they would voluntarily move all of their pensions Mexico’s public bank and allow the funds to be used for social purposes and to build public infrastructure.

Who Owns the AFORES?
There are 10 AFORES, that as of 2025 manage more than 7.18 trillion pesos (401 Billion USD). The AFORES system, modeled on Chilean fascist dictator Pinochet’s privatization of pensions, have been criticized by international pension industry observers for lacking sufficient oversight. The Mexican government has cited the complexity of the system as a reason not to de-privatize it, which begs the question, if the pensions are too complex to return to the public, how can they be meaningfully overseen and regulated.

AFORES accounts are mandatory for every worker: they cannot withdraw from the system or manage the fund themselves or collectively with their union, such as with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which manages over $188 billion USD).

1. AFORE Coppel – Coppel Group
2. AFORE Azteca – Grupo Salinas, owned by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, an ultra-right wing billionaire who is fighting in the courts to not pay the 35.450 billion pesos ($1.8 billion USD) in taxes he owes to the Mexican government.
3. Citibanamex Afore – Citigroup —in the process of being sold (USA)
4. Afore XXI-Banorte – Banorte
5. SURA – SURA Group (Colombia)
6. Profuturo – BAL Group (owners of the high-end department store El Palacio de Hierro)
7. Principal – Principal Financial Group (USA)
8. Invercap – Private investment fund
9. PensionISSSTE – The only public pension, limited to state workers
10. Inbursa – owned by Carlos Slim, one of the richest businessmen in the world, who advocates ending the public pension system and abolishing the retirement age in Mexico.

Jay Watts is a photojournalist specializing in social movements and the left who has lived in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto and is now based in Mexico City. His work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Maclean’s, De Raíz, TV Azteca, Canadian Geographic, Canadian Dimension, People’s Voice and other publications.