Oaxaca boiled this May 1
It was not a quiet parade. Workers from STEPIDCEO, the union of state government employees, fought and pushed each other in the center of the Oaxacan capital. The scene seemed straight out of an action movie: burning banners, caps on fire in front of the Government Palace, and shouts against Governor Salomón Jara Cruz.
What sparked the fight?
Everything broke out between a group of union members and their own leadership as the Labor Day march progressed. The fight was so intense that other attendees had to intervene to separate them. The protesters set fire to propaganda and raised slogans against the state leader.
The background is deeper: they denounce a double collection of Income Tax (ISR) that is eating into their salaries. According to them, there is illegal double taxation that has already affected their pockets. And the leadership, instead of defending them, has abandoned them.
More open fronts
It was not the only union on the street. Section 22 of the SNTE has already announced that in upcoming assemblies they will define a date for a possible national strike. Meanwhile, the health sector came out to denounce that there is a lack of medicines and supplies in hospitals in the state.
“This is just the beginning if the problem is not addressed,” warned a union leader on condition of anonymity.
The day made it clear that discontent is not a rumor: it is a pressure cooker. And if the government does not relax, the political theater in Oaxaca could have more explosive events.
