Mexico's SEP addresses SNTE pension debt claims and ISSSTE law amendment

The Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) confirmed that debts owed to secondary‑education staff, originating in 2016 and totalling about 2 billion pesos, are being processed as budgetary resources become available. The teachers’ union, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE), had filed a demand for the federal government to cover the debt and to repeal the 2007 reform of the Ley del ISSSTE, which replaced a solidary pension system with individual accounts.

SEP acknowledged the union’s criticism of the 2007 reform but said that revoking the law is financially unviable. The agency highlighted that, during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration, the Fondo de Pensiones para el Bienestar was created to protect teachers’ retirement income, and that Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum recently lowered the minimum retirement age—the only amendment to the ISSSTE law in nearly two decades. SEP emphasized its ongoing collaborative relationship with SNTE to reach agreements that improve labour and retirement conditions for teachers.