CNTE’s 72 Hour National Strike Begins, Vows World Cup Protests if Demands Not Met

ByLaura Poy Solano

This article by Laura Poy Solano originally appeared in the March 18, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. At the start of the 72-hour National Strike, leaders of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) announced that “if there is no response to our demands, and the dialogue table with the National Single Negotiation Commission is not reinstated, we will take action during the World Cup.”

Prior to the march that departs from the Angel of Independence to the capital’s Zócalo, the general secretaries of section 9 of Mexico City, Pedro Hernández; of section 22 of Oaxaca, Jenny Aracely Pérez; of section 14 of Guerrero, Elvira Veleces; of section 34 of Zacatecas, Filiberto Frausto; and of section 18, Eva Hinojosa, reiterate that the central demands are the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law and the so-called Usicamm Law.

They also demanded a salary increase, and insisted that the demand is that “the negotiation table be resumed with President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who has failed to keep her promise to repeal the 2007 ISSSTE Law.”

The protesting teachers also reported that after the rally in the Plaza de la Constitución, they would pay courtesy visits to the United States Embassy, ​​where contingents from Oaxaca would gather; to the Israeli Embassy, ​​where teachers from sections 9, 10, and 11 of Mexico City would meet; and to the Panamanian Embassy, ​​where teachers from Guerrero and Chiapas would meet. They indicated that the National Representative Assembly (ANR) would then convene that evening.

Jenny Aracely Pérez, leader of the Oaxaca teachers’ union, emphasized that the CNTE has 46 years of struggle, and “to make it very clear that if there is no resumption of dialogue with the president, we will not stop, we will continue organizing all the contingents, and preparing the national strike in the context of the World Cup.”

The leaders of the coordinating group highlighted that simultaneous protest actions are taking place in more than 20 states, including marches, blockades, takeovers of toll booths and government buildings.

At this time, the contingents are preparing to advance towards the Zócalo in the capital, where they will hold a rally and set up a protest camp.

Teachers from the CNTE union prepare to march from the Angel of Independence to the Zócalo in Mexico City, at the start of a 72-hour national strike. Photo: Laura Poy Solano