Food blockade has been observed as a recurring action imposed by the management and private security in response to the workers’ right to strike.

MANILA – The management of Nexperia Philippines blocked access to food, medicine, and water of their workers currently on strike.

“What we want to happen is simply to bring food to the workers inside [Nexperia] and deliver medicine to those who are sick. The problem is that the security guards are refusing to let the food in,” Makabayan senatorial candidate and Kilusang Mayo Uno labor leader Jerome Adonis said.

He has been negotiating with the security personnel of Nexperia Philippines since 10:00 p.m. on March 6, asking them to allow the entry of goods and humanitarian relief to the striking workers.

“We continue to appeal to them, even offering to have our supplies inspected to ensure that the food reaches our hungry colleagues. But they still refuse to allow it,” he said. 

On March 6, Alvin Reyes, a striking Nexperia worker, was taken to the hospital due to high blood pressure after several hours of blockade. Nexperia Philippines Inc. Workers’ Union (NPIWU) reported on March 7 that another striking worker was also taken to the hospital after experiencing dizziness due to low blood sugar and hypertension.

“It is a capitalist tactic to block the entry of food and medicine in order to break the union strike. We confirmed last night, directly from the police and guards involved in the negotiations at the gate, that they were ordered to prohibit the entry of food and medicine,” the union said in a statement.

The negotiating team said that the blockade has no legal basis. The team stressed that they will not enter the workplace, but rather ask the personnel to deliver the relief goods. NPIWU also believes that the blockade is a deliberate attempt to impede the workers’ right to strike.

Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) called on the management of Nexperia to respect Filipino workers’ right to strike and for the Philippine government to protect this right. “These actions, based on experiences with strikes, are usually preparations for repression.”

Food blockade has been observed as a recurring action imposed by the management and private security in response to the workers’ right to strike. It is included in the report of World Organization against Torture in its alternative report to the United Nations, in partnership with human rights groups Karapatan and Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA).

Context

Since March 5, the workers of Nexperia have gone on strike after continued delays in their union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations — with more than 500 workers terminated in the mass layoffs since last year— the company’s refusal to heed the P50 daily wage increase, and the dismissal of four union officers.

Read: Nexperia workers decry mass ‘lay-offs’, claim union-busting

Read: Nexperia management fires union prexy, 3 other officers while CBA nego ongoing

More than 500 workers shut down production and camped out inside the plant. The management insisted that it “does not have the budget” for a substantial wage increase and has thus far only offered an increase of P17 per day.

Nexperia employs approximately 1,800 workers, which amounts to an additional P90,000 ($1,573.74) of wages paid out daily should there be a P50 wage increase. According to NPIWU, the company’s financial statements indicate that Nexperia earns as much as P400 million ($7 million) every day.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued an assumption of jurisdiction, which is a “power” of the labor secretary to prevent strike or lockouts for industries deemed “vital to national interest.”

The striking workers argued that the company is not “indispensable to national interest” and should not be covered by the assumption of jurisdiction. This power, CTUHR said, has been criticized by the International Labour Organization’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions (ILO CEACR) for violating ILO Conventions 87 and 98 pertaining to workers’ right to unionize and collectively bargain.

“The rights and lives of 1,800 Nexperia workers are on the line. The NPWU is one of the oldest labor unions in the country. Electronics is one of the government’s priority industries. The Nexperia workers’ strike is a litmus test for the government in upholding labor and human rights,” CTUHR said. (AMU, DAA)