Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, leading the Committees for the Defense of the Fourth Transformation, committed to safeguarding workers’ wages and benefits, urging them to join her pre-campaign.
“We will move forward together to ensure the continuity of this transformation initiated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” she declared, formalizing a coalition with the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees (CATEM).
At the XV National Ordinary Congress of this Workers’ Central, held at Arena CDMX, Sheinbaum Pardo inaugurated the Labor Defense Committees of the 4T, with representatives from all 31 states of the Republic, stating:
“This broad coalition is united by the fundamental goal of advancing the Fourth Transformation and promoting unity among the people to transform Mexico’s public life.”
Joined by workers from across the Republic and the governors of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila; Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama; Nayarit, Miguel Ángel Navarro; Michoacán, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla; and Puebla, Sergio Salomón Céspedes, Sheinbaum reviewed the labor accomplishments of the current government.
She highlighted that President López Obrador’s administration broke a 36-year stagnation in minimum wage, during which previous governments boasted about Mexico’s cheap labor abroad.
“With our workers as a priority, wages were historically low. President López Obrador pledged and fulfilled his promise, nearly tripling the minimum wage since 2018, thereby lifting labor out of poverty,” she underscored.
She also pointed out that, contrary to claims by previous administrations, “there is no inflation resulting from the increase in the minimum wage.”
Addressing CATEM’s Secretary General, Pedro Haces Barba, who welcomed her to Arena CDMX in Azcapotzalco, Sheinbaum, an esteemed guest at the celebration marking the 15th anniversary of this Workers’ Central, remarked:
“When workers thrive, when entrepreneurs succeed, Mexico prospers.”
Former Senator Ricardo Monreal Ávila, one of the speakers, remarked, “Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum invited me to this Congress, and it is a privilege to be here.”
He emphasized that thanks to the government and the working class under the current administration, the country’s transformational journey continues.
Regarding CATEM, he noted that “with its 194 trade union organizations nationwide, it is a robust Workers’ Central advocating for union inclusion, freedom, and gender equality.”
“We have made significant strides in terms of labor justice in decades,” he emphasized, highlighting to those present that the revised Federal Labor Law of 2019 has led to wages surpassing inflation and improved vacation rights.
In the presidium, Francisco Cervantes, president of the Coordinating Business Council, and in a special area, entrepreneurs invited to the XV National Ordinary Congress, including José Miguel Becos, president of Mota & Gil México; Miguel Rincón Arredondo of Bio Pappel; Guadalupe Phillips Margain, CEO of Grupo ICA; and Carlos Peralta Quintero, CEO of Grupo IUSA, among others, were present.
The celebration encompassed a variety of events: traditional dances from Oaxaca, such as the “piña” from Valle Nacional, gracefully performed by women in exquisite attire; mariachi music, poetry, and CATEM’s emblem: an eagle proudly displayed by leader Haces Barba on his right arm before the audience.
