CNTE Teachers Maintain Protests in Mexico City, Plan Reforma Blockade

Teachers affiliated with the National Union of Education Workers (CNTE) are continuing their protests in Mexico City, escalating actions with a planned blockade on Reforma Avenue. The union has declared the upcoming week critical for their movement, emphasizing the need to strengthen their position.

Isael González Vázquez, the general secretary of CNTE's Section 7 in Chiapas, stated that the proposal presented by the authorities does not address the core demands of the dissident teachers. He called for increased mobilization to pressure the government into offering a more favorable proposal.

The union's central demands include the abrogation of the 2007 Law of the ISSSTE, the elimination of the USICAMM (Unified System for the Assignment of Teaching Positions), and significant improvements in salaries. CNTE views the government's current offer as inadequate and aims to force a better negotiation through sustained protest.

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The next week is crucial for the direction of the teachers' struggle. We said in the media that there is concern from the federal government. It is up to us to review and improve our conditions so that next week exactly marks something transcendent in this struggle we are having in history.

CNTE delegates resolved to maintain their national encampment in the Zócalo of Mexico City and intensify protest actions. While Section 22 is scheduled to attend a negotiation table with the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), other factions are implementing disruptive measures, such as blocking Reforma Avenue. The union sees the week coinciding with the World Cup as a crucial period to make their demands heard amidst national attention.

Protests have also occurred in other states, including a demonstration at the toll booth on the Mexico-Cuernavaca highway where protesters allowed free passage for vehicles. The union stresses the importance of unity and participation in the agreed-upon activities to achieve their objectives.

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What they delivered to us today, or yesterday, is not a response. It is a proposal from them that does not resolve anything at all. And so it is time to improve the condition of strength. We will have to work harder so that starting Monday we can indeed force them to give us another, much better proposal than the one they just gave us.