Members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) occupied shopping malls in Oaxaca and opened toll booths in Chiapas to allow free passage and collect donations.
The dissident teachers’ unions escalated their protests due to the lack of agreements with the federal government regarding their core demands, such as the repeal of the education reform and the cancellation of the 2007 ISSSTE Law.
In Oaxaca, members of Section 22 began a widespread blockade at 7:00 a.m. at shopping malls and department stores in the metropolitan area and various regions of the state.
The mobilization was designed as a boycott of the closing of Hot Sale 2026, the most important shopping event of the season. Teachers positioned themselves at the entrances of shopping centers such as Macroplaza, Plaza Oaxaca, Plaza Bella, and Plaza del Valle, as well as at branches of supermarket chains on the outskirts of the capital and in the Central Valleys, Isthmus, Coast, and Mixteca regions.
Meanwhile, teachers from Chiapas, affiliated with Section 7, opened three toll booths from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The teachers took control of the Chiapa de Corzo toll plaza, on the road connecting to San Cristóbal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, in addition to the toll plazas located on the Arriaga-Ocozocoautla and Ocuilapa highways.
During this protest, the teachers allowed motorists to pass freely in exchange for a fixed voluntary donation of 50 pesos.
The funds raised will be used to finance buses and travel expenses needed to transport new groups to the permanent encampment in Mexico City.
Union leaders warned that if a productive negotiation session with the federal government is not held, the state assemblies scheduled for the coming hours will define new protest actions that could include the closure of government offices and indefinite road blockades.
In Chiapas, teachers asserted that the mobilizations have left more than one million elementary school students without classes.
Source: reforma
