About 100 retired workers from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) rallied outside the Casa de los Saberes Jurídicos on Paseo de los Héroes in Tijuana’s Zona Río on Friday, July 3, demanding that federal courts process their legal challenges against a constitutional reform that slashed their pensions by 30 to 70 percent.
The protesters, members of the Alianza para la Defensa de la Pensión y Patrimonio de Baja California, traveled from Tijuana, Mexicali, and Ensenada. They timed their demonstration to coincide with a visit by Supreme Court officials to Baja California, hoping to deliver their demands directly to Chief Justice Hugo Aguilar Ortiz. He did not attend.
Courts Have Blocked or Rejected Their Cases
The retirees say the three federal courts designated to receive their amparo (injunction) filings have either blocked or thrown out their cases. Gloria Bermejo, a CFE retiree, told local media the group has spent nearly two months without even receiving case file numbers. She said they have appealed to members of Congress, the executive branch, the judiciary, and the National Human Rights Commission without receiving a substantive response.
Felipe Vargas, another CFE retiree, argued the reform violates Article 14 of Mexico’s constitution, which prohibits the retroactive application of laws that harm individuals. A Supreme Court representative at the event agreed to schedule a follow-up meeting and said the Federal Public Defender’s office would review the retirees’ files.
Reform Caps Pensions at Half the President’s Salary
The protest stems from a reform to Article 127 of the constitution, proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum and enacted in April 2026. The amendment caps pensions for trust-level employees of state enterprises at half the president’s salary. Retirees say the rule is being applied retroactively to pensions they already earned under collective bargaining agreements after 20 to 40 years of service at CFE.
Dulce Félix Saguchi, a CFE pensioner who also protested during Sheinbaum’s June 20 visit to Tijuana, told Proceso that retirees felt the first cut to their pensions on May 1. She rejected the government’s framing of their benefits as “golden pensions,” saying that label applies to officials who worked only a few years and retired with outsized payouts, not to career employees who served decades.
The June 20 protest took place at the inauguration of CBTis No. 290 in Tijuana’s Fraccionamiento Natura, where retirees confronted Sheinbaum directly. Friday’s demonstration was the second major action in two weeks.
Originally reported by Punto Norte and Periodismo Negro.