Mexico: if “education is no longer a right but a profit-making venture”, the World Cup could be disrupted!

Teachers from the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) are planning a number of protests during the World Cup.

On Friday 13 March, they took over the Zócalo, the capital’s main square. The government had laid 30,000 m² of artificial turf on the square for the World Cup opening ceremony. The teachers took over the pitch as a ‘warm-up’ ahead of the actions planned in the run-up to and during the World Cup.

From 17 to 19 March, they organised a 72-hour strike to protest against:
- The law which, among other things, changed the method of calculating civil servants’ pension amounts: instead of a pension calculated on the basis of years of service and final salaries, they have been forced to accept a pension based on individual accounts corresponding to the amount saved plus returns from the financial markets. This amounts to a reduction of around 50%!
- The raising of the retirement age.
- The increase in the number of non-statutory staff, some of whom are even employed for a few months before being dismissed without pay.
- The widespread digitisation of classrooms without consulting teachers.
- The increasing reliance on technology in the profession
- The lack of meeting spaces for staff.
- Repression of dissenting teachers: forced transfers, dismissals, etc.
- The notorious inadequacy of salaries.

A picket line has been set up in the Zócalo. A large demonstration set off from this square in Mexico City, and protests took place in other Mexican states.

The threat of a strike during the World Cup remains: “Si no hay solución, aquí será el plantón” (If there is no solution, the picket line will remain). CNTE activists are doing a great deal of work on the ground, engaging with staff at various institutions. Building on this momentum, mobilisation is also growing in other sectors, such as healthcare.

The International Trade Union Network for Solidarity and Struggles supports the struggles of trade unionists in Mexico!