Si Jerome Adonis, 52 taong gulang, ay kasalukuyang Secretary General ng pambansang sentrong unyong Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). Siya ay tanyag na unyonista na may higit 22 taon ng pamumuno at pag-oorganisa sa hanay ng manggagawang Pilipino.

Si Jerome ay pinanganak noong March 27, 1972 sa Ligao, Albay. Dulot ng matinding militarisasyon ng diktaduryang Marcos, kinailangang lisanin ng kanyang pamilya ang kanilang tahanan sa Bicol. Saksi si Jerome sa kalupitan ng militar sa kanilang mga ka-barangay. Nakita niya ang pamumwersa ng mga militar na dalhin ang mga kalalakihang edad 18 pataas sa mga kampo.

Bilang pinakamatanda sa 5 magkakapatid, napilitan si Jerome na maging breadwinner sa musmos na edad. Hindi na niya natapos ang kanyang pag-aaral ng high school. Noong siya ay 16 taong gulang pa lamang, nagsimula na siyang magtrabaho sa konstruksyon at kalauna’y sa pagawaan ng karton. Pagsapit ng 1989, sa simula ng pagpapatupad ng Wage Rationalization Act, naranasan ni Jerome ang tindi ng epekto ng pambabarat sa sahod nang magtrabaho siya sa PNO Electro-Industrial Corporation, isang pagawaan ng semiconductors sa Pasay City.

Noong 1992, si Jerome ay naging konduktor ng bus sa Pasvil-Pascual Liner Incorporated at sumali sa unyong PASVIL/Pascual Liner Inc. Workers Union – NAFLU – KMU. Dulot ng pang-aapi at pagsasamantala ng kumpanya, nagpasya si Jerome at ang kanyang mga kapwa manggagawa na maglunsad ng welga noong 1995. Sa tindi ng pang-aapi at pagsasamantala ng kumpanya, umaabot sa 20 oras ang isang araw ng trabaho ng mga manggagawa. Nasaksihan ni Jerome ang kanyang mga katrabaho na mangisay sa pagod, magkasakit, at mamatay.

Sa welgang iyon naunawaan ni Jerome kung paano pinagsasamantalahan ng mga kapitalista ang mga manggagawa upang magkamal ng tubo. Nakita niya rin kung paano nagsasabwatan ang kapitalista at gobyerno upang atakihin at supilin ang mga manggagawa. Ito ang nag-udyok sa kanya na ialay ang kanyang lakas at panahon sa pag-oorganisa ng mga manggagawa, ngunit kinailangan niyang unahin ang pagtugon sa mga pangangailangan ng kanyang ama na na-stroke. Noong nakapagtapos ng pag-aaral ang kanyang 2 kapatid, hiningi ni Jerome na sila naman ang maging breadwinner ng pamilya. Sa panahong ito, nagpasya na siyang maging full-time na organisador ng manggagawa sa ilalim ng Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Mula 2002, kabilang sa mga naging trabaho ni Jerome sa Kilusang Mayo Uno ang pag-oorganisa ng mga konduktor at drayber sa samu’t saring linya ng bus at jeep, pati ang mga manggagawa sa Manila Port Area. Labing-isang taon siyang nag-organisa sa Manila Port Area at dito nasaksihan ng mga manggagawa at kapwa organisador ang husay ni Jerome sa pagsasalita at pagtatalumpati. Pagdating ng 2013, nagsimula na siyang mag-ensayo bilang lider-manggagawa at tagapagsalita ng uring manggagawa.

Pagsapit ng 2015, si Jerome ay nahalal bilang Secretary General ng Kilusang Mayo Uno sa Ika-11 na Pambansang Kongreso, at muling nahalal noong 2018 sa Ika-12 na Pambansang Kongreso. Kinatawan niya ang Pilipinas sa mga pandaigdigang kumperensya ng mga manggagawa katulad ng International Trade Union Confederation World Congress noong 2018 at 2022. Nahalal siya bilang Second Deputy Secretary ng International League of Peoples’ Struggle noong 2024.

Jerome Adonis, 52, is the incumbent Secretary General of national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). He is an esteemed unionist with over 22 years of organizing and leadership experience among the Filipino working class.

Jerome was born on March 27, 1972 in Ligao, Albay. He and his family left Bicol due to intense militarization in their area during the Marcos dictatorship. Growing up, Jerome saw how the military would frequent his barangay. There were times when he witnessed young men, 18 years old and above, being dragged to military camps.

The eldest of five siblings, Jerome was forced to become a breadwinner at a young age. He wasn’t able to finish high school. At the age of 16, he started working in construction, and then at a carton factory. By 1989, at the onset of the implementation of the Wage Rationalization Act, Jerome experienced the brunt of wage repression when he worked at PNO Electro-Industrial Corporation, a semiconductor factory in Pasay City.

In 1992, Jerome became a bus conductor in Pasvil-Pascual Liner Incorporated and joined the workers’ union PASVIL/Pascual Liner Inc. Workers Union – NAFLU – KMU. Due to the company’s exploitation and oppression of workers, their working hours as bus drivers and conductors would reach up to 20 hours daily. Jerome saw his co-workers writhe in exhaustion, fall ill, and die. This drove Jerome and his co-workers to go on strike in 1995.

Through the strike, he understood how capitalists exploit the working class to amass great amounts of profit. He saw how large capitalists connive with the State to attack and repress the workers. This prompted him to become a full-time organizer, but had to prioritize taking care of his father who suffered from a stroke. When his two siblings graduated, he told them to take on the task of providing for their family as breadwinners. It was then when he finally became a full-time labor organizer of Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Since 2002, Jerome’s work with Kilusang Mayo Uno spans over several organizing areas such as conductors and drivers in bus lines and jeepneys, and harbor workers in the Manila Port Area. He organized workers at the Manila Port Area for 11 years, and it was here that workers and fellow labor organizers witnessed his exceptional abilities in public speaking. By 2013, he began training as a mass leader for the workers, bringing the worker’s struggle to the forefront.

Come 2015, Jerome was elected Secretary General of Kilusang Mayo Uno in its 11th National Congress, and was reelected in 2018 in the 12th National Congress. He also represented the Philippines in global workers’ conferences such as the International Trade Union Confederation World Congresses in 2018 and 2022. He was elected Second Deputy Secretary of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle in 2024.