Mexican public school teachers staged a protest on Friday demanding a significant pay increase, warning of mass demonstrations at the start of the football World Cup on June 11 if their demands are not addressed.
About 3,000 members of the National Education Workers union marched through Mexico City on Teacher’s Day. Their procession was blocked by a heavy police presence that prevented them from reaching the education ministry building.
Protesters carried placards criticizing government spending priorities, with one reading, “Education isn’t a priority, but the million-dollar business of the World Cup is,” while another demonstrator was seen bouncing a soccer ball between his feet as he joined the march.
The government and the official leadership of the teachers’ union have already agreed on a nine percent salary increase.
However, the union remains deeply divided, with a dissident faction insisting on a far higher demand of a 100 percent raise.
According to figures cited, the monthly starting gross salary for Mexican public school teachers stands at about US$967.
“We demand the fulfilment of our demands,” one protesting teacher, Filiberto Fraustro Orozco, from the northern state of Zacatecas, told AFP, adding that union members have agreed to stage intense protests during the World Cup.
In previous years, teachers’ industrial actions have caused major disruption in Mexico City, including prolonged road blockades that have affected access routes to the international airport.
Mexico is expecting around five million tourists during the upcoming World Cup, which it will co-host with the United States and Canada, raising concerns among authorities about potential disruptions if the threatened protests go ahead.
