“We are staging this strike so that our legitimate demands will be met. We are only looking for fair wages and benefits. Instead, management has given us notices of termination.”

CABUYAO CITY, Laguna – Workers of semiconductor giant Nexperia Philippines have gone on strike after continued delays in their union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations and the dismissal of four union officers, including union President Mary Ann Castillo and Vice President Antonio Fajardo.

On 1:50 p.m., March 5, more than 500 workers shut down production and proceeded to camp out inside the plant. According to the Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers’ Union, they are prepared to strike unless Nexperia management agrees to reinstate the four dismissed officers and resume CBA negotiations. A picket line was also established by supporters outside the Light Industry and Science Park.

“We are staging this strike so that our legitimate demands will be met,” said Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers’ Union president Mary Ann Castillo. “We are only looking for fair wages and benefits. Instead, [Nexperia] management has given us notices of termination.”

Nexperia management has thus far refused to meet with the union to address their demands. Instead, management has shut down electricity and water access to the plant. NPIWU also reports that management ordered guards to station near the plant’s gates to “prevent food and water deliveries” from supporters outside.

NPIWU has engaged in CBA negotiations since early 2024. Since then, talks have stalled due to mass lay-offs and management’s refusal to meet the union’s economic demands. According to Castillo, more than 500 workers have been terminated since last year.

One particular point of contention is the demand for wage increases. NPIWU is insisting on a 50-peso daily wage increase for the next three years. Management, however, has continually insisted that it “does not have the budget” for a substantial wage increase and has thus far only offered P17.

“17 pesos is unacceptable,” Castillo said. “We are working with hi-tech automatic machines. Not only that, but we are forced to be flexible because we had to shoulder the workload left behind by the 500 workers they laid off, so we’re working two or more machines at any given time.”

Nexperia employs approximately 1,800 workers, which amounts to an additional P90,000 of wages paid out daily should there be a P50 wage increase. According to NPIWU, the company’s financial statements indicate that Nexperia earns as much as P400 million a day.

CBA negotiations officially went on deadlock on November 29, 2024. Shortly after, Castillo, Fajardo, Board of Directors member Girlie Batad and shop steward Marvel Marquez were charged with “obstructing workers’ ingress and egress.” According to Castillo, management insisted that they “staged illegal pickets and held up buses.”

“We were updating our union members on what was happening to the CBA,” she said. “Since management won’t let us use the plant’s facilities, we did it where we could. It would always be after shift and not during production hours.”

The four officers were officially terminated on December 10, 2024. The next day, the union filed for a notice of strike.

It took three months for Nexperia workers to successfully go on strike. The original plan was to go on strike on December 21; Castillo said that the plan was “leaked to management” the night of December 20 and the union had to re-assess and plan again. “We took the time to plan, raise [the union membership’s] political consciousness, and so on.”

“Our next plan was on February 6, but the [Department of Labor and Employment] imposed an [Assumption of Jurisdiction] the day before,” she added.

Under the Philippine Labor Code, the Labor Secretary can impose an AJ to “intervene in a labor dispute that could significantly disrupt industries considered vital to the national interest.” When an AJ is imposed, protest activity, including strikes, are prohibited and workers are ordered to return to work.

National labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno, however, sees the AJ as DOLE cowing to Nexperia’s whims. “It’s clear that the AJ issued by [DOLE Secretary Bienvenido] Laguesma is in connivance with Nexperia’s management,” said KMU Secretary General Jerome Adonis. “Why? [Because it’s] very clear during the negotiations that management violated procedure by dismissing four union officers including the President and Vice President.”

Adonis added that management’s refusal to budge from its P17 wage increase shows their “insincerity in facing the workers.”

“They pushed the workers against the wall and forced them to go on strike,” he said.

Since DOLE’s imposition of the AJ, there have been three hearings; the latest being on March 6. According to Castillo, management has offered to reinstate two of the four dismissed officers and give a P19 increase. “That was unacceptable to us,” she said. “Our stand is clear: reinstate all four officers and return to the negotiating table.”

“As for the P17 increase, that’s demoralizing to us,” she added. “P17 makes it look like we didn’t contribute anything to the company.”

Adonis also criticized DOLE’s conduct since the AJ imposition. “DOLE’s stand during the hearings should be to reinstate [the four officers] and return to the CBA,” he said. “We think that Nexperia is in the wrong here.”

He also criticized Labor Secretary Laguesma’s lukewarm stance on the matter. “It was clear that there should be no lay-offs during negotiation,” said Adonis. “Why can’t Laguesma take a stand and force Nexperia to reinstate the four officers and come back to the table?”

Spirits remain high both in the picket line and inside the plant. Castillo said that NPIWU is determined to go on strike “for as long as it takes” until their demands are met.

“We have no other choice,” Castillo said. “We’ve done everything else, and now we have to make a stand.” She said that if NPIWU decided to follow the legal process and take up the hearings to the Supreme Court, it would take years for a decision. “There would be no CBA’s during that time, and management can just as easily lay-off more workers and charge officers with more cases.” (RVO)