Jared Laureles and Jessica Xantomila
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, February 6, 2026, p. 11
Workers from Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA), currently bankrupt, yesterday lifted the sit-in they had held for 11 days in the capital’s Zócalo, after President Claudia Sheinbaum “gave us certainty” that the auction is moving forward to resolve the payment of their salaries and settlements, which they have been owed for more than three years.
The representation of the workers decided to return to Monclova, Coahuila, after on Wednesday afternoon a couple of colleagues achieved a brief fortuitous approach with the head of the Executive when she left the National Palace in a vehicle and expressed their concern about the company’s sale process, said Julián Torres Ávalos, president of the Labor Defense Group of Steelworkers.
“When the President came out, two colleagues approached her and introduced themselves as AHMSA workers. She said that everything is fixed, it was just a matter of the auction taking place on February 27, but ‘things are going well for you,'” he commented. Forced by the economic wear and tear that affects their families and the Monclova region, on January 26, 44 steel workers traveled more than a thousand kilometers to Mexico City to set up the sit-in in front of the National Palace.
Trust in the President
The leader indicated that although they did not schedule an audience with Sheinbaum, the brief conversation they had generated confidence in them: “It leaves us satisfied and calm, because we feel that the President is working with great responsibility in this process and that she is going to find a way to give us social justice.” Stressing that the withdrawal does not mean that they are giving up their demands, he confirmed that a representation will return to Mexico City for the auction hearing on February 27.
During their stay in the capital, the workers’ representatives met with the Secretary of Labor, Marath Bolaños, who assured them that the auction of AHMSA is progressing without setbacks and, once sold, the first payments will be made between May and June, he noted.
