13 December, 2022NXP Manufacturing in Thailand, who counts Apple and Bosch among its clients, has fired 13 union leaders under the pretext of falsifying congress documents and refuse to go back on their union busting.
The NXP Manufacturing Workers' Union’s congress in October 2019 passed a resolution assigning a representative to act on the company’s failure to respect the collective agreement. In August 2020, the union filed a lawsuit over NXP’s non-compliance with the collective agreement at the central labour court.
In February this year, the union’s case was dismissed and the court ruled that the union did not have the right to sue.
Focusing on improving the relationship with the employer, the union decided not to appeal the ruling. In return, NXP accused the union members of having falsified the congress minutes, a serious violation of company regulations, and dismissed 13 members of the union committee.
“NXP Thailand should respect the workers' right to take the dispute to court, a grievance procedure protected under the Labour Relations Act 1975. Since the union had withdrawn the lawsuit with the aim of maintaining a harmonious relationship, the company should act reciprocally,”
says Prasit Prasopsuk, CILT president.
IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie sent a letter to NXP in October, calling on the company to immediately reinstate the 13 union leaders with back pay and seniority.
“Industrial harmony is only possible when employers are willing to negotiate in good faith. This trade dispute could have been prevented if NXPThailand had respected the collective agreement.”
In November, participants at the NXP South East regional network participants expressed full solidarity with their colleagues in Thailand. The network members will address the Thai management and urge them to find a fair solution of the conflict, including reinstatement of the dismissed activists.
NXP Semiconductors is headquartered in Netherland with over 30 production facilities across the global, and specializes in processors, microcontrollers, interfaces, peripherals and logics. Customers include Apple, Bosch, Denso and Delphi.