This April 2025 special issue of ASSERT is a product of the collective effort between the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSAD) and student advocates from the UP Manila Political Science NSTP program. It amplifies the voices of Filipino workers confronting systemic exploitation, asserting their rights to safe, dignified, and just conditions in the workplace and beyond.

The issue features timely reports on labor strikes, union repression, unsafe work environments, and the urgent need for stronger occupational health and safety protections. It also includes a powerful contribution from Dr. Leonard Javier, a physician and advocate for workers’ health, who lends both his analysis and poetry to deepen the call for change.

Highlights include:
– The victorious strike of Nexperia workers inside an economic zone
– Stories of resilience from climate-affected farmers in Central Luzon
– A decade of impunity and resistance after the Kentex factory fire
– Calls to free imprisoned unionists and defend the right to organize
– Creative reflections and critiques on labor conditions by student writers
– A poetic piece on hazardous work environments and the fight for safety

This special issue is both a documentation and a declaration of lived struggles, unwavering solidarity, and the continuing fight for genuine workers’ rights in the Philippines.