Latin Analysis: Lessons In Protest- Mexican Teachers On Strike
Reuters
In the first quarter of this year alone, Mexico has seen significant levels of strike action carried out by teachers and education sector workers. Generally, this is an issue that the government appears to be attempting to ignore, but this policy is having limited success in curbing the protests and strikes.
In January 2025, primary school teachers in Oaxaca carried out a 48-hour strike, as part of a wider coordinated action by the National Educators Union (CNTE). This involved a huge ‘sit-in’ picked line outside of the governmental palace in the state capital as well as blockades on highways. This action has been motivated by union demands for improvements to educational infrastructure, with teachers suffering a lack of necessary supplies, and some areas lacking adequate services for the communities they serve. Additionally, strikers are demanding that retired teachers retain the right to pass their positions down to their relatives, which has proved controversial in the face of regulations within the education sector. Despite this strike, the government did not budge, nor did they provide any official statement in relation to the 48-hour action.
A month later, workers and teachers participated once more in industrial action, this time involving thousands of teachers in several states across Mexico. The scale was undeniable; in Zacatecas alone, more than 18,000 teachers started an ‘indefinite’ strike on February 12. On February 17, thousands of teachers marched through the streets of Zacatecas, and this has been categorized as the largest teachers’ strike in 27 years. This widespread action was coordinated jointly by the National Coordinator of Education Workers and the National Education Workers Union (SNTE), with education shutdowns and protests happening across the country. This time, the groups were demanding payment of unpaid wages, workplace improvements, greater respect for workers’ rights, and were also protesting the proposed privatization of the social security system, educational reforms, and mandatory retirement at age sixty. On February 28, the Michoacán branch of the CNTE joined the protest, partaking in a 24-hour strike. They emphasized that this was a “now or never” movement in the fight against the ISSSTE law, which sat at the heart of the discontent of Mexican teachers.
This law, proposed by sitting President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s government, has been the major trigger for this widespread civil action by education workers. There were fears among teaching circles that this reform, affecting the Mexican social security system solely dedicated to public sector employers (ISSSTE)—which aims to “provide comprehensive healthcare and retirement benefits”, was in direct violation of a promise made by Sheinbaum’s predecessor that teachers’ salaries would not be affected. Sheinbaum’s proposed reform was related to altering the formula used for calculating the contributions that workers pay to ISSSTE when their income exceeds a certain amount. Despite this initiative also involving the improvement and remodeling of existing or new housing, including housing acquired, renovated, or built by Infonavit, it became politically unviable for Sheinbaum to pursue.
Sheinbaum’s move to no longer put these reforms to the Chamber of Deputies and Senators meant that these changes were essentially overturned. Content with this decision, many teachers returned to their jobs, stating that "[t]hose of us who had been urged to continue sit-ins and protests by the Central Fight Committee made the brave and consistent decision to prioritize education and return to our classrooms." However, the fight is over for the National Union of Education Workers, and there appears to have been no slowing down of industrial action carried out by this group.
On March 19, teachers in Tulum and Puerto Morelos joined a protest in Cancún, while in Juaréz, three separate marches were organized by the CNTE, culminating in the occupation of a government building. Between March 19-21, the CNTE took to the streets in Mexico City, significantly impacting traffic flows and access to the city’s major airport. Given that these events are continuing despite government attempts to satiate the union’s demands, it appears that “the CNTE is continuing the combative attitude it took for much of the presidency of Sheinbaum’s predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador”.
Teachers in Quintana Roo also continued their strike, demanding a reduction in the number of years of service required before a teacher can retire, from 40 to 30 years for men and 38 to 28 for women. Additionally, they called for the repeal of educational reforms introduced by previous administrations, greater social equity, improved job stability, and better salaries and pensions.
There is no indication of any weakening of the union’s resolve, with education workers announcing at the end of April that they have made pacts with other activist groups, including the Pueblo Unido por la Vida as well as transport workers’ groups, in a further attempt to strengthen protest action. Additionally, it has been announced that teachers will take part in a nationwide strike on May 15, this time to demand salary increases, fair pensions and better retirement support. It appears that the teachers strikes are evolving into a movement on behalf of all public sector workers, with education workers calling on all state employees to join their ‘fight’. This may prove a problem for Sheinbaum’s government; if the strikers grow in numbers and start to hail from a variety of sectors, their demands will become increasingly difficult to ignore.
That is not to say that the teachers’ demands are not without merit. On the contrary, research by the OECD demonstrates that in 2023, the minimum wage for lower secondary school teachers was $33,062 in Mexico, which is approximately 23 per cent lower than the OECD average. Teachers in Mexico also work longer hours on average than the OECD average, with lower secondary school teachers being contractually obliged to teach 988 hours a year, compared to the OECD average of 706 hours annually. Thus, these teachers work significantly more hours, for much less financial reward. The staff to student ratios are also poorer in Mexico, averaging at around 24 students per teacher in primary education, 30 in lower secondary education and 21 in upper secondary education. In comparison, the OECD average is 14 students per teacher in primary, and just 13 children per teacher in both lower and higher secondary education. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why Mexico has seen extreme levels of education union action over the last decade.
Governmental spending on education is also much lower than OECD averages in Mexico, with only 4.2 per cent of GDP being spent on all levels of education, compared to 4.9 per cent on average in OECD countries. Expenditure on education has also decreased as a percentage of GDP over the years in Mexico, especially in early childhood education, while as a whole, this has increased in OECD countries.
Thus, the conditions and governmental support provided to teaching staff in Mexico is far from enviable, with education workers expected to work longer hours, with more students, for less pay than their OECD counterparts. This, coupled with low levels of governmental expenditure and the impact that the administration’s policies are having on employment benefits for public sector workers, many can understand the frustration felt by those striking. Until these issues are addressed within Mexico’s education system, it is difficult to see a way forward, and an end to these strikes.
