The workers under the Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers Union (NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU) filed a notice of strike (NOS) yesterday, June 26, at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) Region IV-A in Calamba, Laguna. Simultaneously, the workers staged a rally outside the NCMB office.

The union voted to file the NOS due to the company’s inhumane treatment of workers, such as the removal of union officials, temporary dismissal of union members, and violations of the provisions stated and agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Among the cases of illegal dismissal at Nexperia Philippines are the termination of eight workers last year, including three union officials. This was followed by the dismissal of 54 workers in March, while several more rounds of dismissals are looming in the coming months. The company cited losses as the reason for the dismissals.

“Nexperia’s continued violation of workers’ rights is unjust because there are agreed-upon provisions in the CBA, but these were not followed by the Nexperia management. Instead, they based the dismissals on their own criteria,” the union stated.

The union at Nexperia has already submitted proposals in recent months to address the issue of dismissals and disagreements between the parties, but the capitalists did not listen. That is why the union believes that “this is an attack on the whole to dismantle the union by weakening it through the dismissal of workers.”

The workers said that Nexperia is now implementing “cost optimization” to demonstrate the company’s “competitiveness.” In this process, the capitalist exploits the workers’ labor by making them handle multiple machines to prove the “redundancy” or repetition of personnel. The union added that Nexperia is using non-unionized workers to divide the union members.

“So in the analysis of the union, for the company to be competitive, it will dismiss workers until it crushes the union. Because only the union can legitimately defend the basic rights of workers to job security, wages, and rights in the workplace,” it emphasized.

That is why the union is now informing the capitalist, through the filing of the NOS, that it is ready to fight for the rights and welfare of the workers through a strike and collective action. “Unite and continue to fight for wages, jobs and rights,” according to NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) expressed solidarity with the struggle of the workers at Nexperia. They also urged other unions and workers in the country to support the fight of NPIWU. “This kind of struggle and victory will serve as an inspiration to the entire nation in the courageous fight using the weapon of the strike!” said KMU.

Nexperia Philippines is a subsidiary of the Dutch-based Nexperia company. It manufactures semiconductors in its factories in Europe, Asia and the US.