Nexperia Workers: A Collective Struggle for Dignity of Work and Life

Article contribution by Kilusang Mayo Uno | February 3, 2025.

In December 2024, workers of Nexperia Philippines Incorporated were met with yet another challenge. After over two years of continuous struggle against attacks on their job security and their right to living wages, their union president was dismissed alongside three other union officers.

Nexperia Philippines is a subsidiary of a multinational semiconductor giant based in a special economic zone in Laguna province, south of Metro Manila. The company produces chips that are used in products such as automotives, e-vehicles, cellphones and others. Nexperia supplies these parts to companies like Bosch, Continental, Denzo, Huawei, Neltz, Tesla, Xiaomi and Samsung.

A Union with a Legacy of Struggle

The Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers Union, is the duly recognized labor union representing the workers in the bargaining table. The union was founded as the Philips Semiconductors Phils, Inc Workers Union in the 1980s. 

In four decades, the union has won many victories for workers including a significantly higher wage rate at an estimated average of 1000 (~$17) per day for the regular workers, almost twice the 520 (~$9) regional wage rate in their home region of Calabarzon. The union also persists in the campaign to regularize contractual workers and provide them the benefits and rights of union members and regular workers. 

The dismissed union president and collective bargaining chief negotiator Mary Ann Castillo has been at the forefront of the union’s struggle. After countless negotiations, the collective bargaining agreement has seen a deadlock due to the management’s refusal to grant a P50 (~$1) per day wage increase. The management insists on P17 ($0.83), which workers deem measly and insulting.

“We were slapped with trumped-up charges to force us to accept the lowball offer,” Castillo said in an interview after the unjust dismissal of the four officers. “What is done to us can also be done to you. So we enjoin all workers to stand up and fight for wages, jobs and rights.”

In 2022, Nexperia recorded a revenue of $2.2 billion while majority of the world’s businesses continue reeling in from the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite billions in profit, the Nexperia management continues to deprive workers of a significant wage increase amid an unprecedented economic crisis in the Philippines. 

Adamant in their struggle for a dignified workplace and a dignified life, the workers filed a notice of strike, an act that has been supported by an overwhelming vote supporting the strike.

The workers of Nexperia are no stranger to outright violations of their labor and human rights. Despite these, they continue to wield their collective unity as a weapon in the struggle for job security, living wages and other labor rights. 

During the pandemic, Nexperia workers were active in calling for emergency measures such as paid pandemic leave, medical support and other benefits for workers during the challenging times. Alongside campaigning for their employer and the government to fulfill their demands, the union also initiated worker-led and -run relief drives to aid fellow workers in distress. 

State Harassment & Red-Tagging

Despite all the union’s good intentions, they were subject to continued harassment by elements of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) branding their union activity as subversive and as terrorist acts and claiming that they are connected to the armed revolutionary movement in the countryside. Union leaders and members were subject to house visits by the police and military which tried to force them to disaffiliate from their labor federation.

Layoffs & Attacks on Job Security

In 2023, around 600 workers from the Sensors department were retrenched after the company’s decision to pull out a part of its production operations and transfer it to another country. The following year, a series of layoffs followed affecting hundreds of workers more. 

The layoffs and Nexperia’s refusal to grant wage increases are aligned with the company’s strategic direction of cost-optimization in the context of increasing automation and the use of artificial intelligence in manufacturing. The technology that the workers collectively created with their blood and sweat is now being pitted against their very own rights and welfare.

This 2025, Nexperia workers are ever more ready to face these attacks head on and use the workers’ strike as a weapon. They currently hold protest after protest, enjoin fellow workers and advocates through fora and dialogues, engage with international allies to shed light on their situation, and prepare themselves for the fight that is to come.

In the midst of this daunting task, one thing remains clear: it cannot be done alone, only together. They are filled with hope that as they embark on the fight for their lives and dignity, they have the utmost support of their fellow workers all over the world in this shared struggle.

Our Roles in Solidarity

We enjoin unions and workers all over the world to support the Nexperia workers’ struggle for job security and living wages. You can:

• Release statements and send letters in support of their struggle
• Follow their official page 'ALL Nexperia Fight' to monitor updates
• Hold assemblies and discussions among workers to gather further support
• Extend financial support to the upcoming strike through the following donation channels:

1. 1. EASTWEST BANK (Peso Account): 200056974139, KILUSANG MAYO UNO (KMU)
   2. EASTWEST BANK (Dollar Account): 300001854007 KILUSANG MAYO UNO (KMU)
   3. PayPal: paypal.me/kilusangmayouno