National Education Workers Union Sections Protest Across Mexico

Educators affiliated with different sections of the National Education Workers Union (SNTE) organized simultaneous demonstrations, office takeovers, and roadblocks across multiple Mexican states, demanding immediate attention to unresolved labor and budgetary demands.

In Acapulco, Guerrero, teachers from Section 14 took over the regional educational services offices on Thursday morning. Jair Santos Estrada, organization secretary for SNTE in Acapulco, stated that the simultaneous mobilizations occurred across all eight union regions in Guerrero following a call from General Secretary Silvano Palacios Salgado. The demands include payment for years of service for support personnel, updated job functions, and the delivery of pending appliances and vehicles from previous employee raffles.

Meanwhile, academic activities resumed at the Center for Teacher Update in Zacatecas after local authorities and Section 34 of the SNTE reached partial agreements. Filiberto Frausto Orozco, general secretary of the section, explained that the installation of a time-clock system was postponed to accommodate teachers' fieldwork, while discussions regarding the removal of director Adriana Márquez Sánchez remain ongoing.

In Oaxaca, members of Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE blocked the Fonapas intersection and warned of a potential indefinite strike. The Indigenous Education sector is demanding a permanent induction course for indigenous teaching, highlighting a deficit of 510 classroom teachers and requesting over 400 million pesos to address staffing shortages and budget limitations.

In Chiapas, the Democratic Magisterial Bloc of Section VII, aligned with the SNTE-CNTE, issued a call for a state political concentration. Secretary General Isael González Vázquez urged active and retired education workers to gather in Ocozocoautla de Espinosa coinciding with a presidential visit to the region.

In Tamaulipas, a separate mobilization involves parents, students, and alumni demanding the reinstatement of Arturo Saavedra Torres as director of Secondary Technical School No. 68 in Ciudad Madero. The community campaign follows a judge's decision to drop sexual abuse charges against Saavedra Torres, prompting formal petitions to state education authorities and SNTE Section 30.

Union leaders across these regions emphasize that these protests stem from long-standing grievances that require official responses before the conclusion of the year, while authorities continue to evaluate fiscal constraints and administrative frameworks.