▲ The spokesperson for the pledge institution pointed out “issues of the union leadership” as the true reason for the conflict.Photo Luis Castillo
Jared Laureles
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, October 27, 2025, p. 12
The union’s “control” over the process of appointing some 300 positions is the reason why the strike broke out at the National Monte de Piedad (NMP) on September 30, said the institution’s spokesperson, Aldo Torres Villa.
In an interview, he pointed out that the amending agreement signed in 2024 between the parties established the “newsletter of positions”, which implies disseminating among the workers the vacancies that will have to be competed under a “transparent, equitable and based on seniority” process and in which both members of the majority union, which is the holder of the collective contract (CCT), and the independent one may participate.
“The union leadership does not want to lose control over the process of designating and filling vacant positions; the 300 that were competed for are not new, they correspond to places that were vacant due to retirements, retirements and various issues,” he said.
Torres recalled that the CCT agreement was endorsed by the Ministry of Labor, and rejected that the NMP administration had acted unilaterally, as pointed out by the institution’s National Workers Union.
“In the amending agreement there is no clause that requires the institution to have bipartisan representation,” he insisted.
Likewise, he denied that the CCT is at risk or that modifications are required. The strike in the more than 300 branches has to do with “union leadership issues.”
Regarding the statement by the union headed by Arturo Zayún that the institution deprives its workers of rights such as the half-hour meal established by law, the NMP spokesperson indicated that it was agreed that it would be staggered, since at that time is when users have time to do some paperwork at the pawn branches.
Regarding the union organization’s complaint that members of the board, chaired by Zozaya Gorostiza, receive million-dollar salaries, Torres considered it a “distractor.” Likewise, he rejected that there was opacity and claimed that he could not reveal the salary amounts so as not to breach the personal data protection law.
Regarding the offices in a shopping plaza in Polanco that the board rented –instead of operating at the headquarters of the Historic Center–, he indicated that “it is neither relevant nor solves any problem.”
The NMP, a collateral institution with 249 years of history, carries out more than 600 thousand monthly operations at its windows and each year provides more than 7 million collateral loans. To date there have been 27 days of strike, and between November 12 and 14 more than 1,800 workers will decide in a recount whether it continues or not.
