A Victory for Labour Rights: the international solidarity movement shows what it can do
Exercising the right to freedom of association has a lasting positive impact, not only on the workers directly involved, but on the wider community. So when an achievement in securing freedom of association occurs, it is important that we take a moment to celebrate it and reflect on the reasons for success.
Last week, after months of campaigning by the Metal Workers Union of the Philippines (MWAP), bolstered by the efforts of labour rights activists and concerned customers, Dutch multinational (and supplier to Apple) NXP Semiconductors reinstated 12 union workers as part of a new collective bargaining agreement.
In May 2014, NXP Semiconductors dismissed 24 union officers in the midst of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement in what the union described as “clear case of union-busting”. MWAP launched a local campaign supported by people from all corners of civil society and sought international solidarity for their movement. The case was also taken up by IndustriALL Global Union, who wrote to NXP urging the company to reinstate the workers, and SumOfUs, who encouraged consumers to write to Apple – 150,000 did!
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre approached NXP and Apple about the situation.
NXP responded, emphasising their good reputation and positive role in the region. In regards to the dismissed union workers, NXP stated that their “grave misconduct” and “illegal actions” led to them being dismissed and that due process was provided.
Apple - whose response rate to enquiries by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre stands at 38%, far below the overall worldwide company response rate of 70% - failed to respond in this instance.
IndustriALL issued a rejoinder which highlighted their disappointment with the lack of response from Apple and stated that “NXP’s letter is both highly misleading and highly revealing about the company’s disdain for workers and their fundamental rights.”
At the beginning of September, NXP responded to the rejoinder saying that it stood by its initial statement and that the case was pending before the National Labor Relations Commission.
By the end of September, MWAP announced that a new collective bargaining agreement had been reached which reinstated 12 of the 24 dismissed union workers, committed to a long term wages increase, and provided better terms of employment for many employees. The remaining 12 workers will receive a fair separation package and will continue in the union to serve workers outside NXP.
The importance of this case is magnified by the location of the plant within a special economic zone. Reden Alcantara, MWAP National President, said “[t]he NXP management failed to bust our union, which is one of the few unions inside the hostile territory of the special economic zones. That, to us, is our biggest victory”.
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre was not privy to the negotiations that took place and, in considering the reasons for NXP’s change of heart which restores previously constructive industrial relations at the plant, can only speculate. However, it is clear that in the wake of the union workers’ dismissal, a tenacious local campaign was mobilised and supported powerfully through international solidarity and advocacy. The effects of this would have been hard for NXP to ignore.
Bobbie Sta. Maria, Southeast Asia Researcher & Representative at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said:
This breakthrough in the NXP Philippines case illustrates how global solidarity and substantial engagement with company headquarters could be valuable tools for local unions – especially in countries where remedial mechanisms are limited or ineffective; and where, often, power still tilts in favour of employers with greater resources to guard their interests, even at the expense of human rights.
As MWAP highlighted in this statement, "[t]he NXP struggle was a showcase of what international solidarity can do”.
NXP's reinstatement of the workers and the other measures put into place by the new collective bargaining agreement provide a positive starting point for a continuing dialogue between the company and the union.
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