Nexperia Philippines Inc. workers under the leadership of its union Nexperia Philippines Inc Workers’ Union-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU) protested before the Department of Labor and Employments (DOLE) national office on February 6, to condemn the agency for issuing an Assumption of Jurisdiction (AJ). DOLE Sec. Bienvenido Laguesma’s AJ issued on February 5 effectively blocked the Nexperia workers’ planned strike.

It can be recalled that the majority of NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU members voted on December 20, 2024 to go onstrike due to the company’s one-year delay and deadlock in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This is also their fight against the illegal termination and dismissal from work of four union officials including its president on December 17, 2024.

The DOLE secretary issues an AJ order over labor disputes in industries “vital to national interest.” It will automatically terminate any strike or lockout, and will oblige workers to immediately return to work and continue the company’s operations. By virtue of this, DOLE may mobilize the police and military to enforce workers’ compliance with the AJ.

“The Nexperia workers’ fight is founded on their right to strike because voracious Nexperia is not giving their demand for meaningful wage increase and the reinstatement of union leaders it removed using fabricated cases,” said the federation NAFLU-KMU.

According to the federation, DOLE’s AJ only clarified its uselessness as a labor agency. “Workers have nothing to expect from government officials whose supposed mandate is mediate and fight for their rights,” said NAFLU-KMU.

For the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (Philippines), the AJ violates workers’ right to negotiate for CBA and right to strike. “May we remind Secretary Laguesma that the International Labour Organization Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions (ILO CEACR) has already ruled that the Labor Secretary’s power to assume jurisdiction over labor disputes violates ILO Conventions 87 and 98 as it violates workers’ rights to collectively bargain and strike,” according to the institution.

They insist that Sec. Laguesma immediately scrap the AJ and that Nexperia address the long-standing grievances of workers there.

Nexperia is part of a multinational semiconductor company that creates chips used in the automotive industry, e-vehicles, cellphones, and others. Among its clients are Bosch, Continental, Denzo, Huawei, Neltz, Tesla, Xiaomi and Samsung. Its headquarters are in The Netherlands and China.