This March 7, 2025 photo from labor center Pamantik Kilusang Mayo Uno shows the picket line at the Light Industry and Science Park in Cabuyao, Laguna. Pamantik KMU Facebook page

MANILA — Workers on strike at an electronics manufacturer in Laguna vowed Friday that the strike would continue despite a return-to-work order issued by the Department of Labor and Employment, saying it will continue to push for the reinstatement of four sacked union officers and a return to Collective Bargaining Agreement talks.

The strike at Nexperia Philippines, Inc. at an industrial park in Cabuyao, Laguna, has continued despite a security blockade on food and medicine for the striking workers in the compound.

“Dapat itulak ni Secretary [Bienvenido ]Laguesma ang Nexperia na humarap sa hapag ng negosasyon, dahil hanggang hindi ibinabalik ang apat na opisyales, nananatili rin ang mga batayan ng ating welga!” Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers’ Union said in a post on Facebook, where union supporters have also streamed footage from the strike.

(What Secretary Laguesma should do is push Nexperia to the negotiation table because until the four union officials are reinstated, the basis for the strike remains)

Negotiations on a Collective Bargaining Agreement began in early 2024, with management offering a P17/day wage increase against a P50/day hike that workers are pushing for.

Workers said the extra P17 a day would not even cover transportation costs for the day.

"Kada araw, lumilikha kami ng 7 milyong produkto na nagkakahalaga ng 420 milyong piso. Ilang bilyong pisong halagang materyales ang nalilikha namin sa isang taon!" they also said  on Friday.

(Every day, we create 7 million products worth P420 million)

Four union officers, including its president and vice president, were dismissed in December while negotiations were ongoing.

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RETURN-TO-WORK ORDER, CALL TO CONFERENCE

DOLE, in its return-to-work order, noted that Laguesma's office assumed jurisdiction of the labor dispute on February 5 and had “enjoined” the parties to refrain from “any concerted action that may further exacerbate the situation while it tries to find “a solution mutually acceptable to the parties.”

Under the law, the labor secretary can take jurisdiction of labor disputes in industries "indispensable to the national interest." Nexperia makes semiconductors, the country's largest export. 

No settlement was reached after several conferences and another one on March 6, a day after the strike began, DOLE said.

It said that the union barricaded the exits of the Nexperia canteen with aorund 400 workers inside when the strike began and that “in response, the Company shut down the air conditioning system and water supply of the canteen.”

The union's supporters have been trying to bring food, water and medicine to the striking workers but these have been turned away by industrial park guards and by police, streamed broadcasts from the picket line have shown.

DOLE said parties should comply with its February 5 order to maintain status quo and ordered Nexperia workers to “immediately return to work” and for the company to resume operations and “readmit workers under the same terms and conditions prevailing before the strike.”

The labor department has also called the parties to a conference on Monday, March 10, to again try to reach a settlement.

Nexperia posted a copy of the order on its social media page.

"Sa unang tatlong araw ng welga, dumanas ng todo panggigipit at di makataong kalagayan ang manggagawa," the workers said Friday night, adding lack of government action on the situation benefits management.

(In the first three days of the strike, we have experienced hardship and inhumane conditions)

They said they have endured and overcome hunger, lack of sleep, and deprivation in the three days of the strike.

"Sa tinatanaw nating layunin, kinakaya at pinagsusumikapan nating malagpasan ang bawat hamon, sa pabrika man o sa piket," they also said.

(We have taken on and have tried to overcome each challenge, be they in the factory or in the picket line)

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Regional labor center Pamantik Kilusang Mayo Uno said food that was to be brought in for the striking workers ended up spoiled and uneaten because of what has been called a food blockade.

CALLS FOR SUPPORT, RESPECT FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS

National Federation of Labor Unions - Kilusang Mayo Uno has called on other unions and on workers to support the strike.

"Ang dinadanas ng Nexperia ay dinadanas rin ng iba pang mga manggagawa sa Pilipinas at sa mundo," it said.

(What they are experiencing in Nexperia is what other workers in the Philippines and in the world also experience)

In a separate statement on Thursday, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights called on Nexperia management to respect workers' right to strike and stressed they have been "producing chips that are essential to the functioning of electronic gadgets which have become vital to people’s lives and the economy." 

CTUHR also called on DOLE and on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to protect the rights of workers in electronics, which it pointed out, is a priority industry for the government.

"The Nexperia workers’ strike is a litmus test for the government in upholding labor and human rights," the center also said. — Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News