Electronics giant Nexperia reinstated two union officials whom it had laid off in a labor dispute, and labor NGO Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said the move is a positive development for workers’ right to freedom of association in the country.

On March 9, Dutch-owned electronics company Nexperia Philippines, Inc. reinstated Antonio Fajardo, vice-president of the Nexperia Phils. Inc. Workers Union (NPIWU), and Marvel Marquez, member of the union’s shop steward council, after removing them from work in December 2024.

“The workers’ union in Nexperia is one of the oldest unions in the country, which has been in existence since the time when the company’s name was still Philips. The reinstatement of the two union officials is not only a victory of the Nexperia workers, but of the right to freedom of association of all Filipino workers,” said Kamz Deligente, CTUHR executive director.

Fajardo and Marquez were laid off from work, together with the union president and PRO, for leading a protest in November 19, 2024 that supposedly blocked the company’s ingress and egress. The protest was held in response to the Nexperia management’s refusal to bargain in earnest with the workers during negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“We condemned the retrenchment of union officials then and we continue to condemn it today. At the same time, the union officers’ reinstatement is a victory of the Nexperia workers and is better than the practice of many companies that refuse to reinstate union officials whom they laid off as part of union avoidance,” Deligente added.

In response to the union officials’ retrenchment, Nexperia workers held a strike on March 5, 2025, in the company, located in the Light Industry and Science Park 1 (LISP-1) in Cabuyao City, Laguna province, which resulted in the reinstatement of the union president and PRO and advances in CBA negotiations.

In a decision dated August 18, 2025, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary Bienvenido Laguesma ruled that Nexperia’s dismissal of Fajardo and Marquez is illegal and ordered their reinstatement, even as he dismissed the union’s claim of unfair labor practice against the company.

“The two union officials’ reinstatement is a step forward to closing another chapter in the Nexperia workers’ long history of struggle to claim their labor rights. The struggle for labor rights does not end, and we are glad that Nexperia chose to uphold labor rights in this case and clear away an important issue raised by the previous CBA negotiations,” Deligente stated.

CTUHR expressed its solidarity with the NPIWU in demanding that the Nexperia management move forward to signing the CBA, as a new round of CBA negotiations will start next year, and implement improvements in workers’ benefits.