President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected a request for a direct negotiation table with the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) [1].
The decision signals a shift in how the Mexican government intends to handle labor disputes within the education sector. By bypassing the union's top leadership, the president is attempting to change the power dynamic between the state and the teachers' union.
Sheinbaum delegated the responsibility for dialogue to the Ministry of Governance (Segob) and the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) [1]. This move comes as the CNTE continues to demand a direct line of communication with the presidency to resolve their grievances [2].
"I will seek a direct dialogue with the bases of the teaching profession and no longer with the union leadership," Sheinbaum said [1].
The president said that the CNTE had been in dialogue with the SEP and Segob before the union announced a national strike [3]. This assertion contradicts some reports regarding the timing and nature of those preliminary conversations.
Representatives for the union have maintained that a high-level meeting is necessary to reach a resolution. "We demand the installation of a direct negotiation table with the president," a CNTE leader said [2].
By directing the union back to the secretariats, the administration maintains a buffer between the executive office and the union's demands. The government's strategy emphasizes a preference for grassroots engagement over formal agreements with the union's central command.
“"I will seek a direct dialogue with the bases of the teaching profession and no longer with the union leadership."”
This standoff reflects a strategic effort by the Sheinbaum administration to diminish the influence of the CNTE's central leadership. By prioritizing 'the bases' over the 'union cúpula,' the government seeks to weaken the union's bargaining power and prevent the leadership from dictating terms through the threat of national strikes.
