By Katharina Kempf

      The Mexican teacher’s union has long been a force of struggle for social change in the country, as seen by the movement in Oaxaca in 2006. Currently, the epicenter of the struggle is in the state of Morelos, where most of the 23,000 school teachers from Section 19 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) have been on strike since August 13^th of this year. The teachers are protesting an agreement called the Alliance for the Quality of Education (ACE).

      The ACE is a new initiative, which requires teachers to present exams in order to be contracted or receive promotions. It removes the right of teachers to pass their position on to family members when they retire, which for many years has been permitted, regardless of the qualifications of the inheritor. The measure is also attempting to close public teacher’s colleges, rather than improving the quality of these schools. This forces those who want to become teachers to go to private schools in order to receive their degrees, making it a less accessible career path. It also forces those who have gone to the public colleges to compete with those who go to private ones, which may be regarded as of a higher quality.  The teachers are protesting the ACE because they claim it is privatizing education, which is supposed to be public under Article 3 of the federal constitution, by decentralizing it and focusing on commercialization and the outsourcing of work that used to be under public control.

      The form in which the ACE came about is also part of the reason teachers are protesting it. The ACE was agreed-upon in May between President Felipe Calderon and the leader of the SNTE, Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, without consulting the bases of the 1.5 million-member union. It was decided exclusively by executive power, and never placed in front of Congress for a vote. However, states can choose whether or not to sign on to the agreement. States such as Morelos, Quintanna Roo, Queretaro and Baja California, which have signed on, have seen a growing rejection of the policies by the people. Other states, including Oaxaca, have not signed on. In Oaxaca, it has not been implemented because of the crisis in 2006, and the state government is negotiating with the union to eventually sign on to the agreement.

      In Morelos, protests and tactics mirror the events in Oaxaca of two years ago.

Historically, that state’s section of the union has been just as politically active as Oaxaca’s or Chiapas’s, and there is a network of social justice organizations throughout the state.  Section 19 of the national union has been on strike for over two months, has gone on hunger strikes, and has organized “mega marches” of around 50,000 people. Many other sections of the union have supported the teachers of Morelos, including Oaxaca’s Section 22.

      Due to a lack of government support, the teachers began to increase the pressure by blocking major roads in the state. On October 7^th, the teachers blocked all the entrances and exits of the state, with the support of many citizens. The government came in to break the blockade at Tres Marías with tear gas and detained 4 people. As a result, over 200 people decided to block the Sun Highway until the prisoners were freed, which was successful. On October 8^th, around 1,000 members of state police forces and federal police forces (the infamous PFP) removed another of the blockades at Amayuca using helicopters and tear gas. Fifty-one people were detained and 10 disappeared. That evening, the PFP and elements of the military used tanks to break one of three blockades at Xoxocotla, with 19 detained. The people managed to catch 4 members of the federal forces, but released them when word got around that three more military convoys were moving in their direction. 

      On October 9^th, there was another mega march, but it broke up when people heard that police forces were trying to break another of the blockades in Xoxocotla, and many protestors headed in that direction. More than 2,000 police from the PFP, as well as members of the military, again used tear gas and tanks to break the blockade, taking somewhere between 19 and 50 detainees (depending on the source of the information). Meanwhile, protestors where given 15 minutes to clear an encampment out of the Zócalo, after which the PFP threatened to enter.

      The state has suspended payment to the striking teachers and has hired replacement workers, as negotiations between the union and the government continue. Children have lost about two-and-a-half months of the school year.

      This reflects some of the problems of the teacher’s movement. Tactics used, such as long strikes, roadblocks, or camps in the main square of cities, have made the teachers’ movement unpopular with some sectors of society.

      The lack of coordination between sections of the union has also weakened the effect of protests, because although there are always some sections attempting to fight for change, the lack of widespread pressure from more of the 1.5 million union members undermines more extensive results. Of course, the hierarchy of the national union is also a very corrupt, headed by Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, who recently wanted to give out 59 Hummers to leaders of the different sections of the union at a meeting. After a media storm, she took a step back and said the Hummers were meant to be raffled off as a way to inspire workers. She also said the Hummers were a part of the ACE, to help schools that are in areas that are difficult to reach. The irony of the money spent on 59 Hummers when there are so many problems, including low wages and lack of supplies, in the public school system, was not lost on either members of the union or the general public.

      As of today, the struggle continues between Section 19 and the state government, and the teacher’s union continues to be a force for change, raising consciousness amongst the people, although the actual meeting of demands is often very limited.