Labor leader Jerome Adonis announced on August 2 that he will run for senator under the Koalisyong Makabayan in the upcoming 2025 election. Adonis, general secretary of the militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), will be Makabayan’s third candidate.

“I wholeheartedly accept the challenge of the Makabayan Coalition. Honing our strength and courage to face this fight is important for us workers,” he announced at Nexperia Philippines’ workers’ meeting in Cabuyao, Laguna. The workers’ recently held a successful “strike vote.”

Workers of Nexperia Philippines and other unions, federations and democratic organizations welcomed Adonis’ announcement. “Our union is elated that [he] expressed his desire to run for the senate at our General Mass Meeting,” according to Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers Union (NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU).

In his speech, Adonis shared that worker’s issue of living wage, having a national minimum wage, workers’ rights, food security, genuine new politics against corrupt governance, and defense of national sovereignty will take precedence on his platform.

Adonis, 52 years old, has been a KMU organizer for 22 years. He was born in Ligao, Albay in 1972. He is the eldest of five siblings and supported his parents to make ends meet. Intense militarization during the Marcos I regime dictatorship prompted his family to leave Bicol.

At age 16, he worked in construction and at a cardboard factory. After this, he worked at PNO Electro-Industrial Corporation, a semiconductor factory, in Pasay City. He received very low wages as a result of the enactment of the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 (Republic Act No. 6727).

In 1992, he worked as a bus conductor at Pasvil-Pascual Liner Incorporated where he joined PASVIL/Pascual Liner Inc. Workers Union-NAFLU-KMU. The union launched a strike in 1995 against its exploitative and repressive policies.

As his experience as a unionist and striker grew, Adonis decided to become a full-time KMU organizer in 2002. Since then he has held various positions in the labor center and has been a staunch supporter of the workers in their campaigns and struggles. He highlighted the struggle of workers in other countries in international gatherings and conferences.

Adonis is an addition to the other two Makabayan candidates who have declared to run for the senator. He will join ACT Teachers Partylist Representative Teacher France Castro and Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arlene Brosas.

The Makabayan has earlier announced the formation of the “people’s opposition” for the upcoming election to carry the true interest of the people amid severe economic and political crisis in the country.

Workers and democratic organizations shout: “Adonis in the Senate, Worker. Progressive!”