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imena is a cultural heritage conservator at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Although women make up most of her profession, she began to recognize a pattern of unequal treatment: fewer employment benefits, fewer resources to carry out their work, and different treatment from institutional authorities.

Ximena and her women colleagues decided to organize independently and form their own union.

What followed tested their determination to keep going. It also challenged a workplace and union environment that seemed unprepared to accept an organization led predominantly by women.

Through their experience, this episode explores the connections between gender inequality, independent union organizing, and women’s leadership. Their story asks what it takes for workers to build an organization that represents their needs and challenges established relations of power.