A collection of unions representing Mexico's judicial workers launched an "indefinite" nationwide strike on Monday, ahead of planned votes by lawmakers to overhaul the country's judicial branch, including moving to the popular election of most judges.
In a joint statement, the unions criticized the push as rushed and a danger to the "only counterweight" to the ruling Morena party's dominance of both the presidency and Congress.
Mexico's judiciary employs some 55,000 workers, according to the statement, which also criticized what it described as an end to the merit-based career paths the proposed constitutional reform would eliminate.
The judicial reform is a top priority of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and is set for votes by the newly-elected Congress next month during the leftist leader's final month in office.
The proposed overhaul has spooked investors, who have expressed fears of politicized or otherwise uncertain legal rulings if it is approved by the two-thirds majority of lawmakers needed to change the constitution.
Lopez Obrador's Morena party appeared to secure the needed votes to enact the reform in last June's elections.
