Mexico City’s Trolleybus Workers Could Bring the City to a Grinding Halt

Rail, trolleybus, and cable car workers could soon hit the brakes on Mexico City’s mass transit system if their demands are not met.

Their union, the Tram Workers Alliance of Mexico (Alianza de Tranviarios de México, ATM) is one of Mexico’s oldest democratic unions. The 2,700 workers are fighting for raises, job security language, and more hires and training in order to expand and maintain Mexico City’s electric transport infrastructure. The union has set a strike deadline of March 3.

In December of last year, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a 13 percent increase to the country’s minimum wage in 2026, to 315.04 pesos ($18.33 USD) per day. Sheinbaum’s left-wing MORENA party has more than doubled the minimum wage since her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, founder of MORENA, came into power in 2018.

The raises are welcome by most, despite predictable employer threats of layoffs. But the increase has flattened the tram union’s 16-level wage scale, since it surpasses what the scale mandates for the vast majority of workers. The union wants its lowest-paid members to receive the mandated minimum, and for the scale to go up from there..

Initially, ATM members were set to strike on January 21, but the union agreed to a 15-day extension at the request of Mexico City’s Secretary of Mobility. Workers were divided on granting the extension, the union acknowledged, though a majority voted in favor. After reaching a tentative agreement that would preserve the existing wage scale, plus a 3.5 percent raise for all members, the union granted another extension to continue bargaining over other issues, this time with a deadline of March 3.

If workers do strike, Mexico City’s intricate network of trolleybuses, light rail, and cable cars—which collectively transport more than 700,000 people per day—will come to a halt.

UNIFORMS? WHAT UNIFORMS?

In March 2025, ATM members narrowly averted a strike, reaching a three-year agreement including 3.5 percent raises and increased investment in voucher benefits. But their employer, Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos (STE, a publicly owned transport authority), has dragged its feet on delivering the uniforms and safety equipment workers are owed under the collective bargaining agreement, the union says. STE did not respond to a request for comment.

“You get workers looking for a uniform so they can work. We’re sewing on reflectors on the arms and legs so they can see us at night,” Jorge Luis Peña González, who maintains the overhead wires that power trolleybuses and trains, told Labor Notes last year. Some workers have even bought uniforms on their own dime to avoid getting in trouble, said Gerardo Martínez Hernández, general secretary of the ATM.

In November, ATM members turned up the heat: workers showed up on the job without uniforms. Maintenance workers, who can’t do the job safely without their protective gear, “were the only ones in uniform,” said Martínez Hernández.

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It was nerve-racking at first, but then, “it felt good, because you’d look around and see the support of your co-workers and say, ‘Wow, we are united,’” said Violeta Sofía Mendez Mosqueda, an ATM member who processes payroll for the STE.

Most workers continue to show up without uniforms, though they still show up well-dressed out of respect for those who use the service, said Emmanuel Tolentino Ortiz, who has been a trolleybus operator for nearly 15 years. The action has been a good way to draw attention to the union’s fight, he said: “You become friendly with the people on your route, and they get curious: ‘Why aren’t you wearing your tie, and your blue shirt?’, so we talk with them about what’s going on.”

The union followed up that action with staggered work stoppages among mechanics, electricians, and administrative staff. Mosqueda, a member of the strike readiness committee, said that members showed up to work, but wouldn’t fulfill their duties. That got the city government’s attention, and soon after, the STE agreed to have uniforms available by December 22. But some were missing components, so the union stepped in again, demanding that they not be distributed piecemeal; better to be late but to get workers the gear they need.

As of January 26, workers have started to receive their uniforms in full, Martínez Hernández said.

5 MILLION TOURISTS

The 2026 World Cup is fast approaching—an additional site of leverage for the ATM. An estimated 5.5 million tourists are expected to descend upon Mexico City throughout the tournament, and they’ll need a way to get around. The World Cup is an opportunity to “share with the world who we are,” said President Sheinbaum; the last thing anyone wants is labor strife on the world stage.

Demand for STE’s transit services is expected to double or triple throughout the games, Mosqueda said. To keep up with this demand, Mexico City has made significant investments in transit infrastructure, including the purchase of 14 new trolleybus units and the establishment of a new trolleybus route, still in progress. It’s welcome news for ATM members, but many hope the investments will be accompanied with investments in training—on maintenance, first aid, and defensive driving, among others— to offer the best possible service.

The raises, too, will also go far, as rents in Mexico City have skyrocketed in recent years. As a result, many members are forced to live well on the outskirts of the city they help run—which in the sprawling metropolis of 23 million people, one of the world’s biggest cities, leaves them with a punishing commute: “There are people who commute three hours just in one direction,” said Ortiz: “so they have to get up at 3 or 4 a.m. to get there by 7 or 8.”

Ortiz, whose father was also a trolleybus operator, said he “was raised with ATM blood in my veins.” The union puts on a flurry of events year round, not just for members but their families as a whole. “Since I can remember, I’ve celebrated Children’s Day [with the union]; they’d take us to lucha libre, to ‘Holiday on Ice’,” he said. These festivities—alongside religious observances, an annual dance held on Tram Workers’ Day, and a baseball league where Ortiz now plays against unionized subway and electrical workers—are key to making the union a vital force in members’ lives.

“It’s practically the legacy he left me,” Ortiz said. “For that reason, it’s even more crucial to fight. We’ve been a union for more than 100 years. We can’t let it be lost.”