Workers at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) march on Friday, October 30, 2026, for the third time in just over a month in Mexico City and several states, with two demands: a larger salary increase and the departure of the general secretary of the National Union of Social Security Workers (SNTSS), Rafael Olivos Hernández. They have gathered 80,000 signatures to back the second request, according to Expansión Política.
The salary review went to a vote: the union had agreed to a 2.9% increase to the base salary, approved at the Ordinary National Congress in September 2026, and members voted it down. IMSS and SNTSS then renegotiated an 8% increase, split into 4% directly to salary and 4% to Concept 11, a rent support, according to the same publication. The dispute matters for millions of beneficiaries because it unfolds inside an institute that serves nearly 80 million people.
El País México reports a split day of action: one contingent set out from Reforma and another from the Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, both at three in the afternoon, and they met at night in front of Gobernación. Anesthesiologist Octavio Fernández, a spokesperson for the movement, said workers will not stop until they have an Extraordinary National Congress that seeks Olivos's removal, according to Expansión.
The goal is 316,000 signatures, 66% of the 475,000 union members. That threshold was set by the leader himself: in statements to Proceso magazine, Olivos said that "if two-thirds of the 475,000 workers come together to call an Extraordinary National Congress and make the request as the statute requires, the truth is that yes, I would resign then." With the consultation resolved, the pressure shifts to action: IMSS director Zoé Robledo presented a plan of 12 actions over four months worth 12 billion pesos.
The next step depends on the signatures: if 66% is reached, the statute opens the path to the Extraordinary Congress and a possible exit for Olivos; if not, the mobilization continues in the states, where retired and active doctors have already brought other unions into the protest.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
