Mexico teachers' union to use World Cup attention for labor demands

Mexico's National Union of Education Workers (CNTE) announced it will use the international spotlight of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to amplify its labor and social security demands. The union is maintaining an indefinite strike and a protest encampment in the Historic Center of Mexico City, where an estimated 10,000 teachers are present.

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We will use the international attention generated by the tournament to disseminate our labor and social security demands.

CNTE leaders stated during a press conference that the movement will continue until their core demands are met. These include the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE law, the abolition of the education reform, salary increases, changes to the pension system, and a meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Pedro Hernández Morales, general secretary of Section 9 in Mexico City, detailed plans to prepare banners, t-shirts, and informational materials in various languages. These materials will be distributed to foreign visitors and international media covering the World Cup's opening, which begins June 11 in the capital.

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It is a window to the world.

"It is a window to the world," Hernández Morales said, referring to the tournament. The CNTE also plans to coordinate with other social sectors planning demonstrations, including groups representing mothers searching for missing persons, families of the 43 disappeared students from Ayotzinapa, transport workers, farmers, and students with federal government demands.

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The objective is not to reach the Azteca Stadium during the World Cup opening, but to make the demands of the teaching profession and other social movements visible by taking advantage of the international media attention that will be generated.

While the specific actions will be determined by the National Representative Assembly, Hernández clarified that the primary goal is not to disrupt the World Cup opening ceremony at the Azteca Stadium but to raise visibility for the teachers' and other social movements' demands by capitalizing on the international media attention generated by the tournament. Contingents from Guerrero state are also reinforcing the protests.

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The main demand of the movement remains the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE law, and we reiterate our rejection of the current individual retirement account scheme, as well as the payment of pensions in units of measurement and update (UMA).