Mexico City Workers Call for Unity on May Day; "there are still many labour problems"
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“Unity is not only found at the dialogue table but also at this event of workers,” Isaías González of CROC stated.

This article by Jared Laureles and Jessica Xantomila originally appeared in the May 1, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. Without the presence of most union leaders and with a rally that lasted less than an hour, hundreds of workers commemorated International Workers Day. Some of their representatives called for unity because “there are still many labour issues” that need to be addressed and strikes continue across the country.

In the Plaza de la Constitución, where they set up a platform in front of the National Palace, they demanded a solution to the strikes at the Nacional Monte de Piedad and the Tornel tire factory, which have lasted seven months and two months, respectively.

Gerardo Meneses, general secretary of the Tornel company union, complained that despite the armed attack they suffered, “the authorities do not listen to us” and the employer does not want to respect the Collective Bargaining Agreement or the 40-hour work week to which they are entitled.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Petroleum Technicians and Professionals (UNTyPP) denounced that for the first time in 97 years, these workers did not receive a salary increase and, on the contrary, were affected by the constitutional reform that limits the so-called golden pensions of former public servants.

He pointed out that because of that amendment, which originally concerned high-ranking officials, technicians and professionals at Petróleos Mexicanos suffered a reduction in their pensions.

“These aren’t golden parachutes, they’re pensions earned through our work. Where is the legal certainty?” complained Silvia Ramos, a member of the UNTyPP oversight and auditing committee.

Nacional Monte de Piedad strike Photo: Jay Watts

At the rally, held under a blazing sun with a heat index of 27 degrees Celsius, attended by telephone operators, pilots, flight attendants, domestic workers, and a representation of the mothers and fathers of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, they pointed out that there is also a lag in contractual wages, due to increases in the general minimum wage.

Furthermore, they complained that judges are declaring strikes illegal before they even begin. “Where is this labour reform that this government has been touting?” they asked.

Regarding the strike at Nacional Monte de Piedad, union leader Arturo Zayún said that seven months into the conflict, more than a thousand workers have been fired and the institution’s board “insists on eliminating” the collective bargaining agreement.

“United unions will never be defeated,” “National policy for wage recovery,” and “We demand respect for our rights” were some of the slogans chanted by hundreds of workers.

Given the urgency of the meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum at the Cultural Center of Contemporary Mexico, scheduled for after 10 a.m., the few union leaders who attended the rally left before it ended, and those who were absent sent a representative to address the workers.

Isaías González, general secretary of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC), acknowledged that the presence of all the leaders of the General Assembly of Workers and the Trade Union Dialogue Table was needed.

“It is necessary for those unions that are at the dialogue table (with the President) to be here, because unity is not only found at the dialogue table but also at this event of workers and workers,” he stated.

At the end of his message, the union leader from Tornel also went to the Cultural Center of Contemporary Mexico, but he was not allowed access because he was not invited.

The contingents, which barely managed to fill a third of the Zócalo square, gradually withdrew during the rally, so by the end, there were few left.

Frente Nacional por las 40 Horas Photo: Jay Watts

Trade Unions, for the Defense of Sovereignty

In the morning, contingents of workers began to gather in the vicinity of the Palace of Fine Arts to participate in the march for International Workers’ Day, which would culminate at the Zócalo in Mexico City and where a rally would be held.

The unions that make up the General Assembly of Workers (AGT) raised the defense of national sovereignty, at a time when the government of Donald Trump insists on its interventionist intentions and within the framework of the review of the USMCA.

One of the groups, made up of telephone operators, pilots, flight attendants and university workers, as well as a representation of the mothers and fathers of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, gathered at the intersection of Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas and 5 de Mayo, and prepared a van with sound equipment.

Striking workers from the Tornel rubber company were one of the largest groups and marched down Francisco I. Madero Street. Wearing black jackets, accompanied by drumming and waving flags, they shouted slogans like “Here you see the strength of Tornel!”

The mobilization began around 8:30 a.m. towards the Plaza de la Constitución, since later, around two hours later, the union leaders were summoned to a breakfast meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum at the Centro Cultural del México Contemporáneo.

As part of this International Workers Day march, the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) also marched from the Angel of Independence to the Zócalo to demand a salary increase and the repeal of the 2007 Issste Law for a dignified retirement.

From that point on Paseo de la Reforma, members of the Mexican Union of Electricians, workers from digital platforms and from the Cruz Azul and Pascual cooperatives also departed and met at the Angel of Independence.

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