Active workers, retirees and pensioners of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) have kept up protests in several states across the country since Friday, October 9, 2026, with blockades such as the one at Clinic 220 in Toluca, while the agency's director general, Zoé Robledo, called for dialogue and acknowledged challenges with supply and overcrowding.
The increase approved by the National Congress of the National Union of Social Security Workers (SNTSS) is 6.8%, made up of 2.9% to the base salary and 3.9% in benefits, according to Expansión Política. A group of dissenting workers voiced its rejection of the proposal during a dialogue session set up by the Secretaría de Gobernación (Interior Ministry). The leader of CNTE Section 9, Pedro Hernández, joined the protest and announced that teachers would take part in the march on Wednesday, October 14, the same day workers will decide in a consultation whether to accept the increase. The weight of the institution explains the reach: the IMSS serves nearly 23 million insured workers and 7 out of every 10 older adults in the country, according to Robledo's message distributed by Aristegui Noticias.
Robledo noted that medical services continue to operate throughout the country. In the week of October 2 to 9, he said, 5,745 babies were born at the IMSS, 30,583 surgeries were performed, and 662,000 specialty consultations and 2 million family medicine consultations were provided. He added that the institute fills prescriptions for 769,000 people daily, with an average supply level of 94%, and that those who do not receive their medications can register them at recetacompleta.gob.mx or call 800 953 2218. On a return to the Pension and Retirement Regime (RJP), he said it requires legal changes that fall outside the IMSS's authority. "To those who have taken to the streets, we ask that they do so with respect and without affecting other people," said the director, who called for keeping access to hospitals, emergency rooms and ambulances clear.
The next item on the agenda is Wednesday, October 14: that day SNTSS workers will vote on the increase in a consultation and the CNTE will march in support of health workers' demands. Robledo said oversight will be reinforced and that solutions will be provided for prescriptions that are not filled.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
