Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
GR NO 196276
JUNE 4, 2014
Takata filed with the DOLE Regional Office a Petition for Cancellation of the Certificate of Union
Registration of SALAMAT (union) on the ground that the latter is guilty of misrepresentation,
false statement and fraud with respect to the number of those who participated in the
organizational meeting. Takata contended that in the May 1, 2009 organizational meeting of
SALAMAT, only 68 attendees signed the attendance sheet, and which number comprised only
17% of the total number of the 396 regular rank- and-file employees which SALAMAT sought to
represent, and hence, SALAMAT failed to comply with the 20% minimum membership
requirement. DOLE RD - petition granted; cancelled registration. BLR - reversed RDs decision;
SALAMAT remains in the roster of labor orgs.
ISSUE: Should the registration of SALAMAT be cancelled?
RULING: No. It does not appear in Article 234 (b) of the Labor Code that the attendees in the
organizational meeting must comprise 20% of the employees in the bargaining unit. In fact, even
the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Labor Code does not so provide. It is only under
Article 234 (c) that requires the names of all its members comprising at least twenty percent
(20%) of all the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate. Clearly, the 20%
minimum requirement pertains to the employees membership in the union and not to the list of
workers who participated in the organizational meeting. Indeed, Article 234 (b) and (c) provide
for separate requirements, which must be submitted for the union's registration, and which
SALAMAT did submit. Here, the total number of employees in the bargaining unit was 396, and
20% of which was about. SALAMAT submitted a document entitled "Pangalan ng Mga Kasapi
ng Unyon" showing the names of 119 employees as union members, thus SALAMAT sufficiently
complied even beyond the 20% minimum membership requirement. SALAMAT also submitted
the attendance sheet of the organizational meeting which contained the names and signatures of
the 68 union members who attended the meeting. Considering that there are 119 union
members which are more than 20% of all the employees of the bargaining unit, and since the
law does not provide for the required number of members to attend the organizational meeting,
the 68 attendees which comprised at least the majority of the 119 union members would already
constitute a quorum for the meeting to proceed and to validly ratify the Constitution and Bylaws of the union. There is, therefore, no basis for TAKATA to contend that grounds exist for the
cancellation of SALAMAT's union registration. For fraud and misrepresentation to be grounds
for cancellation of union registration under Article 239 of the Labor Code, the nature of the
fraud and misrepresentation must be grave and compelling enough to vitiate the consent of a
majority of union members.
ART. 234. Requirements of Registration. - A federation, national union or industry or trade union center or an
independent union shall acquire legal personality and shall be entitled to the rights and privileges granted by law to
legitimate labor organizations upon issuance of the certificate of registration based on the following requirements:
LEGEND v KML-INDEPENDENT
GR NO 169754
FEBRUARY 23, 2011
KML filed with the Med Arbiter a Petition for Certification Election. LEGEND moved to dismiss
the petition alleging that KML is not a legitimate labor organization because its membership is a
mixture of rank and file and supervisory employees in violation of Article 245 of the Labor
Code. LEGEND also claimed that KML committed acts of fraud and misrepresentation when it
made it appear that certain employees attended its general membership meeting on April 5,
2001 when in reality some of them were either at work; have already resigned as of March 2001;
or were abroad. Med Arbiter - dismissed the petition and concluded that KML is not a
legitimate labor org. DOLE Secretary - reversed Med Arbiters decision. CA - affirmed DOLE
Secretarys decision.
LEGEND claims that KMLs petition for certification election filed during the pendency of the
petition for cancellation and its demand to enter into collective bargaining agreement with
LEGEND should be dismissed due to KMLs lack of legal personality.
ISSUE: Can the certification election proceed?
RULING: Yes. An order to hold a certification election is proper despite the pendency of the
petition for cancellation of the registration certificate of the respondent union. The rationale for
this is that at the time the respondent union filed its petition, it still had the legal personality to
perform such act absent an order directing the cancellation. That there is a pending cancellation
proceedings against the Union is not a bar to set in motion the mechanics of collective
bargaining. If a certification election may still be ordered despite the pendency of a petition to
cancel the unions registration certificate x x x more so should the collective bargaining process
continue despite its pendency. There is therefore no basis for LEGENDs assertion that the
cancellation of KMLs certificate of registration should retroact to the time of its issuance or that
it effectively nullified all of KMLs activities, including its filing of the petition for certification
election and its demand to collectively bargain.
The legal personality of a legitimate labor organization x x x cannot be subject to a collateral
attack. The law is very clear on this matter. x x x The Implementing Rules stipulate that a labor
organization shall be deemed registered and vested with legal personality on the date of
issuance of its certificate of registration. Once a certificate of registration is issued to a union, its
legal personality cannot be subject to a collateral attack. In may be questioned only in an
independent petition for cancellation in accordance with Section 5 of Rule V, Book V of the
Implementing Rules.