MEXICO CITY — Dissident workers of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) have announced a national march for Tuesday, October 13, to demand significant salary increases and the removal of their union leadership. The protest is strategically timed to occur one day before a mandatory union consultation regarding a proposed wage hike.
During an assembly held in front of the IMSS headquarters on Paseo de la Reforma, workers voiced their demands for a more substantial direct increase to their paychecks. They are also calling for the immediate dismissal of Rafael Olivos Hernández, Secretary General of the National Union of Social Security Workers (SNTSS), and the convening of an Extraordinary National Congress to facilitate the election of new leadership.
The movement has seen rapid growth in recent days, drawing support from independent unions and several major labor sectors. The protest will see participation from the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), workers from the Institute for Security and Social Services for State Workers (Issste), the Mexico City Metro system, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), and the electricity sector.
This mobilization follows a string of recent protests in Mexico City, Campeche, Oaxaca, and Querétaro. In those regions, workers reported chronic shortages of personnel, medicines, and essential supplies in government clinics and hospitals. In Oaxaca, demonstrators accused current union leadership of “selling out” to management, claiming such actions have compromised the labor rights of the workforce. In Querétaro, medical staff expressed deep frustration over a proposed 2.9% raise, calling it a “mockery” and a “lack of respect” for their professional expertise.
In response to the escalating tension, SNTSS Secretary General Rafael Olivos Hernández met with the general secretaries of the country’s 37 union sections. Olivos Hernández urged workers to remain united and participate in the upcoming October 14 salary consultation, despite the opposition from the dissident group. He maintained that differences “must be overcome through dialogue and respect,” promising that there would be no reprisals for those expressing grievances.
As of Tuesday morning, the dissident workers remained in the vicinity of the IMSS offices, occasionally blocking central lanes on Paseo de la Reforma.