March 8 is a day of remembering that women’s rights were not granted—they were won through strikes, picket lines, and movements that defied the power of capital and the state. It is the legacy of working women in the factories of New York and Petrograd who walked out, refusing to be overworked and underpaid, and whose defiance shaped history.

That same defiance lives in the women workers of Nexperia, who, despite making millions of microchips daily, are denied the dignity of a livable wage. They are now rightfully and courageously exercising their right to strike to demand what should never have to be begged for: fair compensation, security of tenure, and the right to organize. Their struggle is not just against a single corporation but against a system that thrives on their oppression.

Across the country, it is women—in unions, in urban poor communities, on picket lines, and in the countryside—who are leading the fight for land, labor, and life itself. They are the backbone of resistance, among the first to be exploited, and always among the first to rise. Their sacrifices and resilience remind us that gender equality is not a slogan; it is a battlefield where power must be wrested from those who monopolize it.

If women’s full empowerment were achieved—if their labor, voices, and leadership were truly valued—the world as we know it would be transformed. Inequality would not just be reduced, but dismantled. Thus, social change is not only possible; it is inevitable—if women refuse to retreat and continue to rise.

This March 8, we do not simply celebrate women. We stand with them, fight alongside them, and commit to the justice they demand.

Justice for Nexperia workers! Justice for all working women!

#JusticeForNexperiaWorkers
#InternationalWomensDay
#ResistGenderOppression

Reference:
Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
NUPL Secretary General
+639174316396