10 March, 2025After a 74-hour strike by 1,000 workers, the Nexperia Philippines Workers’ Union secured the reinstatement of union leaders Mary Ann Castillo (president) and Girlie Battad (union official), along with a PHP50 (US$0.87) wage increase over three years.
The strike began on 6 March in the Nexperia production area and outside the Laguna economic zone. The company immediately blocked workers in the production area from accessing food and medicine. The settlement was concluded on 8 March, the company promised not to take retaliatory actions against striking workers.
Prior to the strike, the union went through 21 rounds of failed negotiations and three more conciliation hearings. The union conducted briefings with union members, but the company dismissed four union officials including the president, accusing them of blocking the company entrance and exit.
The union filed several strike notices and attended mediation meetings at the department of labour and employment (DOLE), which did not yield any concrete results. They also criticized the failed intervention of the labour secretary in this labour dispute.
Julius Carandang, the secretary of Metal Workers' Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) which represents Nexperia Philippines workers, said :
“The strike at Nexperia is justifiable as they fight for their right to negotiate and to have the four union officials who were illegally terminated reinstated. The Nexperia management is unreasonable in their negotiations, even in the presence of the DOLE, as they continue to insist on reversing their previous positions that could help resolve this issue. This has led the workers to launch a unified and strong collective action.”
IndustriALL regional secretary for South East Asia, Ramon Certeza, said:
“IndustriALL stands in solidarity with Nexperia Philippines workers who fight against union busting and a decent collective bargaining agreement. We call on Nexperia to reinstate the remaining two union officials and negotiate the collective agreement with the union in good faith.”