Statement from ILPS – Asia and the Pacific
The International League for Peoples Struggle – Asia and the Pacific fully supports the workers of NEXPERIA in the Philippines in their decision to go on strike against massive redundancies.
The NEXPERIA Philippines Incorporated Workers Union (NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU) voted to go on strike, as the management made almost 600 workers redundant and intends to eliminate another 326 jobs to achieve its target of 1:8 automation ratio in the production line.
The crackdown on the workforce began in September 2023, with the termination of eight workers, including three union officials. By April 2024, an additional 54 workers were temporarily laid off for six months, and more were threatened to be sacked.
In response, the NEXPERIA Philippines Workers’ Union filed a complaint accusing the company of unfair labour practices and engaging in union-busting tactics. The global union federation IndustriALL affiliate, the Metalworkers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) protested that the dismissals violated both the Collective Bargaining Agreement and established seniority practices.
“MWAP strongly opposes the mass layoffs and union busting at NEXPERIA. The company must immediately reinstate the workers, and stop these series of layoffs that are affecting the jobs and the lives of 400 workers,” said an MWAP representative.
NEXPERIA is a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is a subsidiary of the partially state-owned Chinese company Wingtech Technology. Xuezheng Zhang is the current Chairman and CEO of Wingtech. In 2023, NEXPERIA announced a total revenue of US$2.15 billion. In a 2022 news report, Wingtech was named as a supplier to Apple for its Mac Mini and Macbook components, as well as components for electric vehicles. They also provide electronic products for mobile phones, computing devices,consumer electronics, and other mobile devices.
NEXPERIA’s automation drive is driven by its rapacity for more profits, clearly at the expense of the lives of workers and their families. The massive retrenchment being experienced by NEXPERIA workers in the Philippines is just one among the many similar situation being faced by workers across the globe.
NPIWU-NAFLU-KMU is one of the strongest local unions in the Philippines. It won a major three-month struggle in 2015, and resisted over the last three years a sustained pressure on its leaders to disaffiliate from the Kilusang Mayo Uno Labor Center (KMU) by the notorious National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The current capitalist system will never serve the interests of the working people, as it is built on exploitation and oppression by the capitalists against the working people. Only a system where the working people are the decision-makers can the interests of the people be promoted and protected.
The KMU Labor Centre and PISTON, the federation of jeepney drivers, has committed to support the NEXPERIA strike, as has IndustriAll.
Victory for the NEXPERIA Workers Union!
