Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, leading the Committees for the Defense of the Fourth Transformation, affirmed her commitment to safeguarding workers’ wages and benefits, encouraging their participation in her pre-campaign.
“We will journey together to ensure the continuity of the transformation initiated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” she declared, formalizing an alliance with the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees (CATEM).
At the XV National Ordinary Congress of this Workers’ Central, hosted at Arena CDMX, Sheinbaum Pardo inaugurated the Labor Defense Committees of the 4T, with representatives from all 31 states of the Republic, emphasizing:
“This broad coalition is united by the core objective of advancing the Fourth Transformation and striving for national unity and the transformation of Mexico’s public life.”
Joined by workers from across Mexico and governors including Marina del Pilar Ávila of Baja California, Mara Lezama of Quintana Roo, Miguel Ángel Navarro of Nayarit, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla of Michoacán, and Sergio Salomón Céspedes of Puebla, Sheinbaum highlighted the achievements of the current administration in labor policy.
She recalled how President López Obrador’s government broke away from 36 years of stagnant minimum wages, previously exploited for Mexico’s cheap labor overseas.
“With a focus on our workforce, wages were on a steady decline. President López Obrador vowed and delivered, nearly tripling the minimum wage from 2018 levels, alleviating labor impoverishment,” she underscored.
She also noted that contrary to previous administrations’ claims, “there has been no inflation due to the minimum wage increase.”
Speaking at Arena CDMX in Azcapotzalco, Sheinbaum, a distinguished guest at the 15th anniversary celebration of CATEM, addressed Pedro Haces Barba, CATEM’s Secretary General, saying:
“When workers thrive, and when entrepreneurs prosper, Mexico thrives.”
Former Senator Ricardo Monreal Ávila, one of the speakers, remarked, “Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum invited me to this Congress, and I am honored to be here.”
He stressed that the ongoing transformation of Mexico continues, thanks to the government and the working class.
Regarding CATEM, he highlighted that “with its 194 trade union organizations nationwide, it is a formidable Workers’ Central promoting union inclusivity, freedom, and gender equality.”
“We have made significant strides in terms of labor justice,” he emphasized, noting that the revised Federal Labor Law of 2019 has brought wages above inflation and ensured decent vacation benefits.
The presidium featured Francisco Cervantes, President of the Coordinating Business Council, and a special area was allocated for invited entrepreneurs like José Miguel Becos 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.
The festivities encompassed diverse elements: traditional dances from Oaxaca, such as the “piña” from Valle Nacional, gracefully performed by women in stunning attire; mariachi music, poetry readings, and the symbolic eagle emblem of CATEM, proudly displayed by leader Haces Barba on his right arm to the audience.
