TRADE UNIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES & ALLIED SERVICES LOCAL CHAPTER NO.

1158 (SUPER GARMENTS

MANUFACTURING CORPORATION WORKERS UNION), PETITIONER, VS. HON. JOSE L. COSCOLLUELA, JR.,
PRESIDING JUDGE OF BRANCH CXLVI REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF MAKATI AND RUSTAN COMMERCIAL
CORPORATION, RESPONDENTS.
G. R. No. 71959, November 28, 1985
FACTS:
Petitioner union filed a notice of strike with the Ministry of Labor and Employment against Super Garments
Manufacturing Corporation. It is alleged by the petitioner union that goods of Super Garments were spirited out of its
strike-bound premises thru Rustan's warehouse. Whereupon, the union picketed not only Super Garments but also
Rustan. As a result Rustan filed a civil case before the respondent judge for injunction and damages and filed a
petition with the National Labor Relations Commission also to enjoin the union from picketing its premises.
ISSUE:
Whether or not picketing is lawful even there is no employer-employee relationship exist between the
parties.
RULING:
The Court, while allowing that a peaceful picketing is a phase of the freedom of expression guaranteed by
the Constitution and could not be curtailed even in the absence of an employer-employee relationship, maintained
that this is not an absolute right. The Court are not without power to localize the sphere of demonstration, whose
interest are foreign to the context of the dispute. This the right may be recognized at the instance of an innocent
bystander who is not involved in the labor dispute if it appears that the result of the picketing is to create an
impression that a labor dispute exist between him and the picketing union.