Right to Self-Organization

Labor Law II
 Constitutional Provisions
• Article 13, Section 3: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and
overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment
and equality of employment opportunities for all.
It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization,
collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted
activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They
shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and
a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making
processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility
between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary
modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce
their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and
employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of
production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns to
investments, and to expansion and growth.
 Constitutional Provisions

• Article III, Section 8: BILL OF RIGHTS

The right of the people, including those

employed in the public and private sectors, to
form unions, associations, or societies for
purposes not contrary to law shall not be
abridged.
 Constitutional Provisions
• Article IX (b) Section 2 (5): Constitutional
Commission (Civil Service Commission)

The right to self organization shall not be

denied to government employees.
 Constitutional Provisions
• Article XI, Section 1: ACCOUNTABILITY OF
PUBLIC OFFICERS

Public office is a public trust. Public

officers and employees must, at all times, be
accountable to the people, serve them with
utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and
efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and
lead modest lives.
 Right to Self-Organization
• Is the existence of EER necessary to the formation
of a union?
• Coverage under Art. 253 (243), LC:
1. Commercial
2. Industrial
3. Agricultural Enterprises
4. Religious
5. Charitable Institutions
6. Medical Institutions
7. Educational Institutions
 Right to Self-Organization
• What are included?
1. Right to form, join or assist labor organizations of
their own choosing for purposes of collective
bargaining and engage in lawful concerted activities.
Art. 253 (243)
2. The right not to join any union.
3. The right to vote by 2/3 majority of its general
membership to cancel registration of its union in a
meeting duly called for the purpose. Art. 248 (239-A)
4. Right to file a petition for cancellation of union
registration and/or de-certification of the union on
grounds provided by law. Art. 247 (239)
 Coverage: Right to SO
• Rank and File Employees
–Art. 219 (212)m : “All employees not
falling within any of the above
definitions are considered as rank-and-
file employees for purposes of this
Book.”
 Coverage: Right to SO
• Supervisory Employees
– Art. 219 (212)m : “are those who, in the interest of the
employer, effectively recommend such managerial
actions if the exercise of such authority is not merely
routinary or clerical in nature but requires the use of
independent judgment.”
– Art. 255 (245): “ Supervisory employees shall not be
eligible for membership in the collective bargaining
unit of the rank-and-file employees but may join,
assist or form separate collective bargaining units
and/or legitimate labor organizations of their own.”
 Evolution of Supervisor’s Right to SO
• Industrial Peace Act
– Supervisors were allowed to unionized separately from
rank-and-file. Managers were included in the term
“supervisors”.
• Labor Code
– The term “supervisor” was dropped and replaced by
“managerial employee”. Supervisors were deemed to be
falling under the definition who were prohibited from
unionizing.
• Labor Code as amended by RA 6715
– Retained the ineligibility of managerial employees but
revived the right of supervisory employees to unionize.
 Atlas Lithographic vs. Usec Laguesma
• Supervisors are not prohibited from forming
their own union. What the law prohibits is
their membership in a labor organization of
rank-and-file employees or their joining in a
federation of rank-and-file employees that
includes the very local union which they are
not allowed to directly join.
 Sec. 8, RA 9481
amended Art. 245
• “Managerial employees are not eligible to join,
assist or form any labor organization. Supervisory
employees shall not be eligible for membership in
the collective bargaining unit of the rank-and-file
employees but may join, assist or form separate
collective bargaining units and/or legitimate
labor organizations of their own. The rank and
file union and the supervisors' union operating
within the same establishment may join the
same federation or national union.“
 Coverage: Right to SO
• Security Guards
– Join unions vis-à-vis their direct employers.
• Philips Industrial Development vs. NLRC
– Old rules prohibit security guards from joining a
labor organization of a rank-and-file.
– Sec. , EO repealed the original provision thereby
making security guards eligible for membership in
any labor organization.
 Coverage: Right to SO
• Alien Employees
– Art. 284 (269) : “All aliens, natural or juridical, as well
as foreign organizations are strictly prohibited from
engaging directly or indirectly in all forms of trade
union activities without prejudice to normal contacts
between Philippine labor unions and recognized
international labor centers: Provided, however, That
aliens working in the country with valid permits
issued by the Department of Labor and Employment,
may exercise the right to self-organization and join
or assist labor organizations of their own choosing
for purposes of collective bargaining: Provided,
further, That said aliens are nationals of a country
which grants the same or similar rights to Filipino
workers.”
 Coverage: Right to SO
• Home Workers
–Sec. 3, DOLE DO No. 5-1992:
“Homeworkers shall have the right to
form, join or assist organizations of
their own choosing, in accordance with
law.”
–Industrial workers
 Exclusion: Right to SO
• Government Employees
– EO 180: PROVIDING GUIDELINES FOR THE EXERCISE
OF THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, CREATING A PUBLIC SECTOR LABOR-
MANAGEMENT COUNCIL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
– Sec. 1: This Executive Order applies to all employees of
all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and
agencies of the Government, including government-
owned or controlled corporations with original
charters. For this purpose, employees, covered by this
Executive Order shall be referred to as “government
employees.”
 Government Employees
• Sec. 2: all government employees have the right
to form, join or assist employees’ organization,
labor management committees, work councils
and other forms of workers’ compensation
scheme
• Sec. 3 : high-level employees shall not be eligible
to join the organization of rank-and-file
government employees
• Sec. 4: EO does not apply to members of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, including police
officers, policeman, firemen and jail guards
 E.O. 180
• Protection of the Right to Organize
– No discrimination
– Employment not subject to conditions
– No interference
• Registration of Employee’s Organization
– Register with Civil Service Commission and the
Department of Labor and Employment
– Application filed with the Bureau of Labor Relations
(BLR) or Regional Offices of the DOLE who will
transmit the same to the BLR
– Issuance of registration certificate
 E.O. 180
• Sole and Exclusive Employee’s Representative
– Employer’s unit consisting of rank-and-file
employees
– The duly registered employees’ organization
having the support of the majority of the
employees in the appropriate organizational unit
– Voluntary recognition is accepted
– Certification election may be conducted to
determine the exclusive representative
 E.O. 180
• Terms and Conditions of Employment in Government Service
– Except those fixed by law, may be subject to negotiations
• Peaceful Concerted Activities and Strikes
– Observance of the Civil Service laws and rules governing
concerted activities and strikes in the government service
• Public Sector Labor-Management Council
– Shall implement and administer the provisions of the EO
– Promulgate rules and regulations to implement the EO
• Settlement of Disputes
– The Civil Service and labor laws and procedures shall be
followed
– If unresolved, may refer the dispute to the council
 Exclusion: Right to SO
• Members of Cooperative
• Benguet Electric Cooperative vs. Calleja:
– The right to collective bargaining is not available to an
employee of a cooperative who at the same time is a
member and co-owner thereof. With respect,
however, to employees who are neither members
nor co-owners of the cooperative they are entitled to
exercise the rights to self-organization, collective
bargaining and negotiation as mandated by the
Constitution and applicable statutes.
Republic of the Philippines represented
by SSS vs. Asia Pro Cooperative
• A cooperative acquires juridical personality upon
its registration with the Cooperative
Development Authority. It has its Board of
Directors, which directs and supervises its
business; meaning its Board of Directors is the
one in charge in the conduct and management of
its affairs. With that, a cooperative can be
likened to a corporation with a personality
separate and distinct from its owners-members.
Consequently, an owner-member of a
cooperative can be an employee of the latter
and the employer-employee relationship can
exist between them.
 Exclusion: Right to SO
• Managerial Employees
– Art. 219 (212)m : “one who is vested with the
powers or prerogatives to lay down and
execute management policies and/or hire,
transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall, discharge,
assign or discipline employees.”
– Art. 255 (245): “Managerial employees are not
eligible to join, assist or form any labor
organization.”
– Creates a conflict of interest
 Sim vs. NLRC
• [w]hen an employee accepts a promotion to a
managerial position or to an office requiring
full trust and confidence, she gives up some
of the rigid guaranties available to ordinary
workers. Infractions which if committed by
others would be overlooked or condoned or
penalties mitigated may be visited with more
severe disciplinary action.
• Higher standards are required of managers.
 Exclusion: Right to SO
• Confidential Employees
– Doctrine of Necessary Implication: what is
implied in the statute is as much a part
thereof as what is expressed.
– Will result in:
• Conflict of interest
• Source of undue advantage
 Evolution of Confidential Employee’s
Right to SO
• Southern Philippines Federation of Labor v. Calleja
– Inclusion among rank-and-file
• Golden Farms v. Calleja
– Exclusion from rank-and-file
• Phil. Phosphate Fertilizer Corp v. Torres
– Inclusion among supervisors
• Golden Farms v. Sec. of Labor
– Inclusion among monthly paid rank-and-file
• Republican Planters Bank Supervisors Chapter v. Torres
– Excluded, like managers
SMC Supervisors Union v. Laguesma
“Confidential employees are those who (1) assist or
act in a confidential capacity, (2) to persons who
formulate, determine, and effectuate management
policies in the field of labor relations. The two
criteria are cumulative, and both must be met if an
employee is to be considered a confidential
employee that is, the confidential relationship must
exist between the employees and his supervisor, and
the supervisor must handle the prescribed
responsibilities relating to labor relations.”
 Exclusion: Right to SO
• Employees of International Organizations
– Immune from Philippine jurisdiction
– Waiver of immunity is necessary
– But….GTZ v. CA: The ruling in Holy See
provided a template on how a foreign entity
desiring to invoke State immunity from suit
could duly prove immunity before our local
courts. The LA has reiterated that petitioners
must secure from DFA a certification of
respondents’ diplomatic status and
entitlement to diplomatic privileges including
immunity from suits.
 GTZ v. CA
This decision should not be seen as deviation from the more
common methodology employed in ascertaining whether a party
enjoys State immunity from suit, one which focuses on the particular
functions exercised by the party and determines whether these are
proprietary or sovereign in nature. The nature of the acts performed
by the entity invoking immunity remains the most important
barometer for testing whether the privilege of State immunity from
suit should apply. At the same time, our Constitution stipulates that
a State immunity from suit is conditional on its withholding of
consent; hence, the laws and circumstances pertaining to the
creation and legal personality of an instrumentality or agency
invoking immunity remain relevant. Consent to be sued, as exhibited
in this decision, is often conferred by the very same statute or
general law creating the instrumentality or agency.
 Exclusion: Right to SO
• Domestic Helpers or House helpers
– Art. 253 (243): “all person employed in
commercial, industrial, agricultural enterprises
and in religious, charitable, medical or
educational institutions whether operating for
profit or not shall have the right to self-
organization and form, join or assist the labor
organization of their own choice for the
purpose of collective bargaining.”
 Exception: Members of Religious Sect
• RA 3350: condition of employment: membership in labor
organization (closed shop agreement)
– Does not cover members of religious any religious sects which
prohibit affiliation of their members in any such labor
organization.
– Victoriano v. Elizalde Rope Workers’ Union, G.R. No. L-25246,
September 12, 1974: RA 3350 is constitutional. (1) It did not
infringe freedom of association. The right to join includes the
right not to join. (2) It did not impair contractual obligations.
(3) It does not violate the non-establishment clause. It does not
directly advance, or diminish, the interests of any particular
religion. (4) It does not violate the prohibition from the
requirement of religious test. (5) It does not violate EPC as
there exists substantial distinction and the classification is
germane to the purpose. Finally (6), it does not violate social
justice. It promotes social welfare and equal access to
opportunities.
1. A, an employee of XYZ Cooperative, owns
500 shares in the cooperative. He has been
asked to join the XYZ Cooperative
Employees Association. He seeks your
advice on whether he can join the
association. What advice will you give
him?
2. True or False. Government employees
have the right to organize and join
concerted mass actions without incurring
administrative liability. Explain your
answer.