Aceves del Olmo, the only candidate to follow as leader of the CTM, at 84 years of age

Angels Cruz Martinez

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 7

Next year, Carlos Aceves del Olmo will be 85 years old and will be nominated as the unity candidate to continue leading the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). This was decided by the 142nd General Assembly, which concluded yesterday with a massive event where the cheers, rattles and trumpets showed their support for their leader who walks with difficulty, cannot stand up and did not say a word. Other people spoke on his behalf to lead the meeting and present the annual report.

The event, held in the Fernando Amilpa auditorium at the CTM headquarters, was also the setting for the celebration of the 89th anniversary of the union, which brings together more than 4.5 million workers in the country.

From the beginning, the support of the CTM members for the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum was made clear. We are on her side, we defend national sovereignty, the economy and the jobs that belong to Mexicans , said Juan Carlos Velasco, in the reading of the annual report of the national committee.

It was a day of celebration with music from early in the auditorium and in the inner courtyard of the building located in the Tabacalera neighborhood, where the different union sections met and made their presence known with choral harangues, so much so that the speakers had difficulty making themselves heard. The noise grew with each mention of the name of the octogenarian leader, who has been at the head of the CTM since 2016 and is the sixth in the history of the organization.

Given over to die

This is a living, active group. It is the strongest labor union and it is a pride to be led by Carlos Aceves del Olmo, who is dedicated to death , said Patricio Flores, secretary of social communication and in charge of directing the assembly's work.

Representing President Sheinbaum was the Secretary of Labor and Social Security, Marath Bolaños, who highlighted the progress made by the Fourth Transformation in increasing minimum wages, eliminating outsourcing , and the implementation of labor reform, by which more than 30 thousand collective bargaining agreements were legitimized and the right of employees to elect their leaders through direct and secret voting was guaranteed.

The official assured that improvements for the salaried class will continue during the current government, as part of what he called the spring of labor rights .

Among other objectives, he mentioned continuing with increases to the minimum wage, so that it is sufficient to buy 2.5 basic baskets; reducing the wage gap between men and women; and formalizing labor.

He said that progress will continue to be made towards reducing the working week to 40 hours through dialogue with companies and unions .

The various speakers included this issue among the pending issues, as well as the elimination of taxes on the salaries and benefits (bonus, profits) of workers, in addition to the increase in vacation days to 30.

Among the guests were the leader of the railroad union, Victor Flores, federal deputies and labor secretaries from different states. Undersecretary César Yáñez attended on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior.

Enrique Mendez

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 7

The general secretary of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), Alfonso Cepeda Salas, stated that President Claudia Sheinbaum informed him that the reform that increases the fees of the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) will not apply to base workers who earn lower incomes.

“It was confirmed by Deputy Ricardo Monreal: there will be no discounts for basic education workers… and it will apply, perhaps, to trusted employees and others who do have high salaries,” he said in a speech during the start of the forums in the Chamber of Deputies to which Morena is calling in order to renew the system of entry, promotion and advancement in the teaching profession.

The senator from the cherry-colored party said: perhaps due to some mistake, an initiative for reforms to the ISSSTE Law was sent, in which the president proposes increasing the health insurance fees and applying them to the integrated salary, that is, base salary plus benefits. Cepeda Salas said that, as the motion stands, which was received on the 7th and is in the House of Representatives committees, it implies an additional discount for health insurance for base workers at all levels who earn more than 10 UMA .

To teachers, no; to high bureaucracy, yes.

The measure has generated a broad mobilization of teachers in the states due to the impact that higher quotas taken from their payroll would have.

Yesterday, at the meeting attended by teachers affiliated with the SNTE, senators and deputies, the union leader commented: “We raised our voice; we communicated with the President and she has determined –and today legislator Monreal has ratified it for us– that she will not make any discounts for grassroots education workers from any union affiliated with section B of article 123 of the Constitution.

It will apply perhaps to those who are trusted and others who do have and have high salaries. No additional discount for health insurance.

In a statement, the SNTE cited that at a meeting on Friday in Morelos, Cepeda Salas stated that the increase in fees should be for senior bureaucracy.

“We, those of us who hold elected positions, from the President of the Republic – who agrees –, the governors, middle managers, trusted personnel, legislators at all levels: federal and local deputies, senators; councilors, trustees and other personnel who earn more than 10 UMA, do contribute, but the rank-and-file public servants – the rank-and-file teachers, the teachers who are in schools, in technological institutes, in the Polytechnic, in higher secondary education will not be affected.”

In turn, Senator Raúl Morón, president of the Education Committee, proposed that new legislation is being sought to regulate and protect education workers with greater justice, with a new protocol for the teaching career that corrects current problems and establishes a fair, efficient scheme focused on educational achievement. The era of the USICAMM (Unit of the System for the Career of Teachers) has concluded .

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 7

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (STPS) yesterday issued the guidelines for the integration of the union and employer organizations that will participate in the designation of the members of the General Assembly of Infonavit, which responds to the configuration of that body modified by the recent reform of the law of the institute.

Thus, national workers' organizations, the employers' sector and the federal government representatives will each have 10 seats, instead of the previous 15, in the General Assembly, the institute's supreme authority .

Regarding national trade union organisations, it is indicated that the national confederation with the largest number of workers will appoint four members and the one with the next largest number of members will appoint two members.

The three following confederations will each define one member, and the majority national union, which is not affiliated with any of the previous confederations, will designate one more member, according to the bases issued in an evening edition of the Official Gazette of the Federation ( DOF ).

For the employers and business sector, it is established that the national organization of merchants established in accordance with the law will appoint five members; the industrial organization, three, and the majority organization of employers will appoint two members .

In the new rules, the requirements for being members of the assembly were expanded and those who are shareholders, associates, partners or members of the corporate government of legal entities or individuals of any nature , who depend financially on the activities of Infonavit, will not be able to participate.

They also cannot be related to any employee or contractor of the institute, as well as to shareholders who depend on Infonavit for financial activities.

Nestor Jimenez and Emir Olivares

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 8

In light of the health status of Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for a week and a half after an asthmatic respiratory crisis and with the beginnings of kidney failure, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo expressed her wish for the leader of the Catholic Church to have a speedy recovery.

We send our best wishes to Pope Francis for a speedy recovery, because he is a man who represents a lot for humanity, even beyond the Catholic religion , the president stressed yesterday morning.

Asked at her press conference about the far-right groups that have spoken out against many of the religious leader's positions because they consider them progressive, Sheinbaum Pardo recalled that in two encyclicals written by the supreme pontiff, he refers to the protection of nature, and reflects on what neoliberalism represented .

You can imagine why there are some who do not like Pope Francis , added the head of the federal Executive, after pointing out that "all those who defend another vision of the Church are against him; what is terrible is that they call themselves 'Christians'. You should not wish anyone ill, even if they are your adversary," this after she was asked about groups that have allegedly shown satisfaction at the decline in the health of the religious leader, who is criticized for his progressive stance.

Moments later, he read excerpts from Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti , which states that real and lasting peace will only be possible through a global ethic of solidarity and cooperation , rather than the senseless and short-sighted strategy of sowing fear and distrust in the face of external threats .

The text, written by Jorge Mario Bergoglio, also points out that “the market alone does not solve everything, even if they want us to believe this neoliberal dogma of faith once again. It is a poor, repetitive way of thinking that always proposes the same recipes for any challenge that arises. Neoliberalism simply reproduces itself, resorting to the magical trickle – without naming it – as the only way to solve social problems.”

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 8

The Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) warned that in light of the policy adopted by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, towards Mexico in particular and the world in general, solutions will be found if there is unity among the political forces, but we must accept and recognize that the real enemy is in our own country where we need authentic national unity .

Such a unit would help overcome serious internal problems that have not been properly addressed for years and are becoming increasingly worse . The CEM includes among these problems inequality, poverty, corruption, and insecurity, which is spreading its bloodthirsty fury across ever-widening territories due to organized crime, which is responsible for drug trafficking and extortion, among other crimes.

The document is signed by the president of the CEM, Bishop Ramón Castro Castro, and adds: we must also focus on the reconstruction of the rule of law in the country, since we are experiencing an institutional deterioration to the point that the law no longer governs, but rather the will of whoever prevails .

The bishops point out that national unity, called for by the political authorities, beginning with the Presidency of the Republic, must prevail in order to overcome division and social confrontation. And the Church is committed to collaborating in this task, as well as to continuing the dialogues in the construction of peace, to promoting greater investments for economic development with better working conditions, particularly for young people.

The CEM also refers to social programs and says that the population needs less support that generates dependency and more training and job opportunities .