For three days, during the non stop days of strikes of Nexperia, the machines inside the factory have not been humming because workers decided not to operate them. The hum of production is deafening to the already deaf capitalist Nexperia and its general manager Gareth Hughes.
When they decided to strike, what they wanted to achieve was simple: to reinstate the four traitor union officials who were fired by the capitalist Nexperia in December, including the president and vice president.
“We also want Nexperia to humanize its offer of P17 coins, like a few measures of rice. The P17 is not enough for the tricycle from Brgy. Pulo to the gate of LISP 1 and the shuttle to the factories.
Every day, we create 7 million products worth 420 million pesos. How many billion pesos worth of materials do we create in a year!
If we add up the P17/day wage increase offered by the capitalists for a year, we will be able to get 11 minutes of work. The P50/day wage increase we are asking for? It is equivalent to 32 minutes of production in the factory. So our demand for a wage increase is not excessive and is only a small part of the enormous amount of work we create every day!
What else can we rely on? Since 2023, more than 600 of our colleagues have been laid off. Nexperia is chasing us with increasing targets and fewer workers, as if the company is chasing “Industry 4.0” or new technology.
But in this pursuit, the union and former contractual workers of Nexperia have fought several times for regular employment. In 2018, the regularization of 250 contractual workers was closed in the CBA, until the capitalist did not respect it. In 2022, 801 former contractual workers succeeded in regular employment in Nexperia, not because of the company’s goodness but because of continuous struggle and resistance.
What else can we rely on? In 2021, NTF-ELCAC, Task Force Ugnay and the 2nd CMO Battalion of the AFP even tried to cripple us. During COVID, more than 100 of our colleagues were visited at home to be red-tagged and pushed to leave the federation. They even used President Steve, President Dandy, Ka Nedo and Ka Manny as a threat to us. They said they could do to us what was done to them.
What else can we rely on? The threat of assumption of jurisdiction by Secretary Laguesma of DOLE is like a knife pointed at us: if we protest at the factory, they will threaten to use the military and police just to get us back to work. Can DOLE really help us?
What else can we rely on? To this day, the municipality of Cabuyao and the capitol of Laguna have not responded to the clamorous demands of Nexperia workers.
The union at Nexperia has been around for over four decades, and every three years we negotiate with the company for increased wages and benefits. This is our fourteenth time negotiating, but the majority of our workers are still far from earning a living wage…”
Fellow countrymen, the strike has been going on for three days.There are many sayings about what workers are facing now. If there is perseverance, there is a stew. No matter how long the procession is, it will continue in the church. In unity, there is strength. The workers are now facing a great challenge, and they can see the success of their collective action.
#StandWithNexperiaWorkers #NexperiaWorkersOnStrike #ReinstateNexperia4
ACVi Asia
