LR Review Notes:

Art. 255 – Inclusion as union members employees who do not belong to the bargaining
unit shall not be a ground for cancellation of the registration of the union. Said
employees are automatically deemed removed from the list of membership.

RA 6715 “Herrera-Veloso Law” – took effect on 21 March 1989 – gave supervisors

the right to organize their own union, separate from the rank and file.

Manager employees – possesses managerial powers to lay down and execute

management policies and/or to hire and fire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall,
discharge, assign or discipline employees. If he can only recommend these
powers, he is not a manager but only a supervisor.

Supervisory employees – the power to must be based on independent

recommend judgment (not clerical); the recommendations must be discretionary
or judgmental; independent, and effective.

Confidential employees –

a) Confidential employees assist and act in a confidential capacity to, or have

access to confidential matters of, persons who exercise managerial functions
in the field of labor relations. As such, the rationale behind the ineligibility of
managerial employees to form assist or join a labor union equally applies to
them;(Philips case)

b) Confidential employees are those who by reason of their positions or nature

of work are required to assist or act in a fiduciary manner to managerial
employees and hence, are likewise privy to sensitive and highly confidential
records. It also states: “By the very nature of their functions, they assist in a
confidential capacity to, or have access of confidential matters of, persons
who exercise managerial functions in the field of labor relations.” (Metrolab
Industries vs. Confesor, et al., G. R. No. 108855, Feb. 28, 1996).

Security Guards – under the old law they were not allowed to joining a labor
union of the rank-and-file or of the supervisory union, depending on their rank. (

Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Triumph International vs. Pura Ferrer-Calleja, G.

R. No. 85915, January 17, 1990; Phil. Airlines Employees Asso. (PALEA) v. Ferrer-
Calleja, 162 SCRA 426 [1988];

Golden Farms, Inc., vs. Calleja, G. R. No. 78755, July 19, 1989. (Confidential
employees were allowed to be included in the union of the monthly paid-rank-and-filers.
Daily paid rank-and-file had separate union.)

Cases: San Miguel Corp. vs. Laguesma, 236 SCRA 595 (1994);

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 University of the Philippines vs. Calleja, G. R. No. 96189. 14 July 1992;
San Miguel Corp. Supervsors and Exempt Employees Union, vs.
Laguesma,
265 SCRA 595 (1994) at p. 65

Art. 256 – Non-Abridgment of right to self-organization – It shall be unlawful for any

person to restrain, coerce, discriminate against or unduly interfere with employees and
workers in their exercise of right to self-organization.(Violations constitute unfair labor
practice)

Right includes –
a) the right to form, join, or assist labor organizations for the purpose of collective
bargaining through representatives of their own choosing;
b) right to engage in lawful concerted activities for the same purpose or for their
mutual aid and protection.

Art. 257 – Concept of Unfair Labor Practice – Unfair labor practices:

a) violate the constitutional right of workers and employees to self-organization;
b) inimical to the legitimate interests of both labor management, including their
right to bargain collectively and otherwise deal with each other in an
atmosphere of freedom and mutual respect;
c) disrupt industrial peace and hinder the promotion of a healthy and stable
labor-management relation

Unfair labor practices are not only violations of the civil rights of both labor and
management but are also criminal offenses against the State;

Jurisdiction – labor arbiter. Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of
damages, attorney’s fees and other affirmative relief; recovery in the administrative
proceedings shall bar recovery under the Civil Code; no criminal prosecution may be
instituted without a final judgment being obtained before the labor arbiter; final judgment
in the administrative proceedings shall not be binding in the criminal case nor be
considered as evidence of guilt but merely considered as proof of compliance with the
prerequisites laid down in the Labor Code.

Elements of ULP at enterprise level –

First – there is employer-employee relationship between the offender and the
offended;
Second – the act done is expressly defined in the Code as an act constituting
unfair labor practice. Arts. 258 and 273 for employers; Arts. 259 for a labor
organization.

Art. 258 – It shall be unlawful for an employer to commit the following:

(a) to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their right to
self-organization;

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 (b) to require as a condition of employment that a person or an employee shall
not join a labor organization or shall withdraw from one to which he belongs;
(c) to contract out services or functions being performed by union members when
such will interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their
right to self- organization;
(d) to initiate, dominate, assist or otherwise interfere with the formation or
administration of any labor organization, including the giving of financial or
other support to it or its organizers or supporters;
(e) to discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work and other terms and
conditions of employment in order to encourage or discourage membership in
any labor organization.

- Nothing in this Code or in any aw shall stop the parties from requiring
membership in a recognized bargaining agent as a condition of
employment, except those employees who are already members of
another union at the time of the signing of the collective bargaiing
agreement.(Closed shop agreement);

- right to charge agency fees (written authority of non-member not required)

(f) to dismiss, discharge, or otherwise prejudice or discriminate against an

employee for having given or being about to give testimony under this code;
(g) to pay negotiation or attorney’s fees to the union or its officers or agents as
art of the settlement of any issue in collective bargaining or any other dispute;
or,
(h) to violate a collective bargaining agreement.

Who are responsible: officers and agents of corporations, associations or partnerships

who have actually participated in, authorized or ratified unfair labor practices shall be
held criminally liable.

Examples:
personnel movements – employee transfer; promotion; acceptance of mass resignation;

Yellow dog contract – a promise extracted from workers as a condition of employment

that they are not to belong to, or attempt to foster, a union during their period of
employment.

Contracting out – an employer’s contracting out of work is itself an unfair labor practice
where motivated by a desire to prevent his employees form organizing and selecting a
collective bargaining representative, rid himself of union men, or escape his statutory
duty to bargain collectively ith his employees’ bargaining representative.
(Contracting restricted by CBA);

Runaway shop – an industrial plant moved by it owners from one location to another to
escape unon labor regulations as state laws, but the term is also used to described a

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plant removed to a new location in order to discriminate against employees because of
their union activities.

Discrimination – discrimination in work quota; discrimination in bonus allocation or

salary adjustments; discrimination in layoff or dismissal; discrimination in regularization;
in blacklisting;

Art. 259 – Unfair Labor Practices of Labor Organizations –

(a) to restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their right to self-
organization. However, a labor organization shall have the right to prescribe
rules with respect to the acquisition or retention of membership;
(b) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an
employee, including discrimination against an employee with respect to whom
membership in such organization has been denied or to terminate an
employee on any ground other than the usual terms and conditions under
which membership or continuation of membership is made available to other
members;
(c) to violate the duty, or refuse to bargain collectively with the employer,
provided it is the representative of the employees;
(d) to cause or to attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay
or deliver any money or other things of value, in the nature of an exaction, for
services which are not performed or not to be performed, including the
demand for fee for union negotiations;
(e) to ask for or accept negotiations or attorney’s fees from employers as part of
the settlement of any issue in collctive bargaining or other dispute; or,
(f) to violate a collective bargaining agreement.
- Responsibility: officers, members of governing boards, representatives or
agents or members of labor association or organizations who actually
participated in, authorized or ratified unfair labor practices shall be held
criminally liable.

Examples:

a) coercing participation in a strike;

b) union-induced discrimination;
c) arbitrary use of union security clause;
Salonga vs. Court of Industrial Relations, 21 SCRA 216 (1967); Manila
Mandarin Employees Union vs NLRC, 154 SCra 369 (1987);
(d) refusal to bargain;
(e) featherbedding – is the practice of hiring more workers than are needed to
perform a given job, or to adopt work procedures which appear pointless, complex and
time-consuming merely to employ additional workers.[1] The term "make-work" is
sometimes used as a synonym for featherbedding.
(f) CBA deal with employer – demanding for some “fee” from employer as part of
CBA or dispute settlement.

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Right to self-organization.
Constitutional Bases of the Labor Code are:

• Art. II, Sec. 18 - the 1987 Constitution declares as a state policy: “The State affirms labor as a primary social
economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.”

• Art. III, Sec. 18, par. 2 – no involuntary servitude

• Art. IX-B, Sec. 2, Par. 1 – CSC embraces all branches... agencies of government, including GOCCs with original
charters.

• Art. IX-B, Sec. 2, par. 3 – No officer or employee shall be removed or suspended except for cause provided by law

• Art. IX-B, Sec. 5 – standardization of compensation of government officials and employees.

• Art. XII, Sec. 6 – the right to own, establish economic enterprises subject to the duty of the State to promote
distributive justice

• Art. XII, Sec. 12 – preferential use of Filipino labor

• Art. XII, Sec. 14, par. 2 – practice of all professions shall be limited to Filipinos

• Art. XII, Sec. 16 – Congress shall not provide for the formation, organization, or regulation of private corporations

• Art. XIII, Sec. 1 – protect and enhance right to human dignity, reduce social, economic and political irregularities,
and remove cultural inequalities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good

• Art. XIII, Sec. 2 – promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities

• Art. XIII, Sec. 3, par. 1 – protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and organized, and promote full
employment and equality of employment opportunities for all

• Art. XIII, Sec. 3, par. 2 – guarantee the rights of all workers:

(1) self-organization;
(2) collective bargaining and negotiations;
(3) peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law;
(4) security of tenure;
(5) humane conditions of work;
(6) living wage;
(7) participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits

• Art. XIII, Sec. 3, par. 3 – shared responsibility: voluntary modes in settling disputes

• Art. XIII, Sec. 3, par. 4 – 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 on investments and to
expansion and growth. (Constitutional balance between the rights of workers and employers)

Job is a property, and no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, and property without due process.

Through distributive justice, labor must receive what is due them for the return of investment.

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Who may join labor unions and workers' associations. –

All persons employed in commercial, industrial and agricultural enterprises, including employees of government owned
or controlled corporations without original charters established under the Corporation Code, as well as employees of
religious, charitable, medical or educational institutions whether operating for profit or not, shall have the right to self-
organization and to form, join or assist labor unions for purposes of collective bargaining.

Who may not join/assist/interfere in the organization of the rank-and-file.

Supervisory employees shall not be eligible for membership in a labor union of the rank-and-file employees but may
form, join or assist separate labor unions of their own.

Managerial employees shall not be eligible to form, join or assist any labor unions for purposes of collective bargaining.
Alien employees with valid working permits issued by the Department may exercise the right to self-organization and
join or assist labor unions for purposes of collective bargaining if they are nationals of a country which grants the same
or similar rights to Filipino workers, as certified by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

For purposes of this section, any employee, whether employed for a definite period or not shall, beginning on the first
day of his/her service, be eligible for membership in any labor organization. All other workers, including ambulant,
intermittent and other workers, the self-employed, rural workers and those without any definite employers may form
labor organizations for their mutual aid and protection and other legitimate purposes except collective bargaining.

What is an Appropriate Bargaining Unit ?

A bargaining unit is a group of employees with a clear and identifiable community of interests who are represented by
a single labor union in collective bargaining and other dealings with management;

An employee group that, on the basis of related skills or common interests in working conditions, is an appropriate unit
for collective bargaining.

Executive Order No. 180, SEC. 9: The appropriate organizational unit shall be the employer unit consisting of rank-
and-file employees, unless circumstances otherwise require.

Rule IV of the Rules Implementing EO 180 (as amended by SEC. 2, Resolution of Public Sector Labor
Management Council dated May 14, 1989): “For purposes of registration, an appropriate organizational unit may
refer to: x x x State universities or colleges, government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters.”

An appropriate bargaining unit may be defined as a group of employees of a given employer, comprised of all or less
than all of the entire body of employees, which the collective interest of all the employees, consistent with eThquity to
the employer, indicate to be best suited to serve the reciprocal rights and duties of the parties under the collective
bargaining provisions of the law.

A unit to be appropriate must affect a grouping of employees who have substantial, mutual interests in wages, hours,
working conditions and other subjects of collective bargaining.

How does a union attain status of exclusive bargaining representative;

A. Voluntary recognition – This has been abolished. Department Order No 40-1-15 replaced provisions on
Voluntary Recognition with a process relating to a Request for Certification as Sole and Exclusive Bargaining
Agent (SEBA).

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 B. Certification election:

“Certification election” refers to the process of determining through secret ballot the sole and exclusive
representative of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining or
negotiation. A certification election is conducted only upon the order of the Department of Labor and
Employment. (Section 1 [h], Rule I, Book V, Rules to Implement the Labor Code, as amended by Department
Order No. 40-03, Series of 2003, [Feb. 17, 2003]).

 Who may file:

1. The employer, when asked to bargain collectively by a legitimate labor organization in his establishment. If
there is no registered collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in the bargaining unit, the Regional Office shall
immediately order a certification election.

2. Any legitimate organization.

 When to file:

1) In an unorganized establishment, at any time when the employer is asked to bargain collectively.
2) In an organized establishment without a CBA, at anytime;

 When NOT to file:

1) Within one (1) year after registration of a voluntary recognition; or, a valid certification/consent or
run-off election within the bargaining unit. Where an appeal has been filed by the Med-Arbiter
certifying the results of the election, the running of the 1-year period shall be suspended until the
decision on the appeal has become final and executory;

2) When the duly certified union has commenced and sustained in good faith with the employer within
(1) year after certification;

3) When a bargaining deadlock to which the incumbent or certified bargaining agent is a party has been
submitted to conciliation or arbitration, or has become the subject of a valid notice of strike or lockout;

4) When a collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the duly recognized or certified
bargaining agent has been registered, the petition may be filed only within the 60-day freedom period
(before the CBA expiry date.).

 Prohibitions:

Rule VIII, Sec. 15.

2. All issues pertaining to: a) existence of employer-employee relationship; b) eligibility or mixture in union
membership raised in the hearings or in pleadings shall be resolved in the same order granting or denying
the petition for election.

3. Questions pertaining to: a) the validity of the petitioning union’s certificate of registration or as regards its legal
personality as a legitimate labor organization; b) validity of registration and execution of collective bargaining
agreement shall be heard and resolved by the Regional Director in an independent petition for cancellation

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 and not by the Med-Arbiter in the petition for certification election, UNLESS, the petitioning union is not found
in the roster of registered labor organizations or CBA is not registered with the DOLE;

4. Undue interference by the employer. The employer’s role in a certification election is that of a mere by-
stander, as the choice of a collective bargaining agent is the concern solely of the employees.
The employer has no legal standing in a certification election as it cannot oppose the petition or appeal the
orders related thereto.

According to the Supreme Court, while employers may rightfully be notified or informed of petitions of such
nature, they should not be considered parties with the concomitant right to oppose it. Otherwise stated, the
employer has no “material interest to assail the certification election” and cannot be considered a party with
an “inalienable right to oppose it”.

The only exception is when, in an unorganized establishment, the employer is asked to bargain
collectively. Then, it may file a petition for certification election pursuant to Art. 258 of the Labor Code.

C. Run-off

An election between the labor unions receiving the two (2) higher number of voters when a certification
election which provides for three (3) or more choices results in no choice receiving a majority of the valid
votes cast, where the total number of votes for all contending unions is at least fifty percent (50%) of the
number of votes cast.

S.S. VENTURES INTERNATIONAL, INC., VS. S.S. VENTURES LABOR UNION (SSVLU) AND DIR. HANS LEO
CACDAC, [G.R. No. 161690, July 23, 2008]
While a certificate of registration confers a union with legitimacy with the concomitant right to participate in or ask for
certification election in a bargaining unit, the registration may be cancelled or the union may be decertified as the
bargaining unit, in which case the union is divested of the status of a legitimate labor organization.

Grounds for cancellation of union registration (Art. 239, as amended):

 Misrepresentation, false statement or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the constitution
and by-laws or amendments thereto, the minutes of ratification, and the list of members who took part in the
ratification;
 Misrepresentation, false statements or fraud in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the election
of officers, and the list of voters.
 Voluntary cancellation of registration, upon petition of at least two-thirds of the general membership in a
meeting called for the purpose provided that the petition by the board of the organization, attested to by its
president

Effect of Petition for Cancellation of Registration:

 A petition for cancellation of union registration shall not suspend the proceedings for certification nor shall it
prevent the filing of a petition for certification.

Grounds for decertification:

> It must be shown that there was misrepresentation, false statement, or fraud in connection with the application
for registration and the supporting documents, such as the adoption or ratification of the constitution and by-laws or
amendments thereto and the minutes of ratification of the constitution or by-laws, among other documents.
> 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."

8
Effect of inclusion of employees outside the bargaining unit as members – Not a ground for cancellation of the
union’s registration but such members are deemed automatically deemed removed from the list of membership of the
union.

Representation Issue in Organized Establishments.(Art. 256, as amended) - In organized establishments, when a

verified petition questioning the majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent is filed by any legitimate labor
organization including a national union or federation which has already issued a charter certificate to its local chapter
participating in the certification election or a local chapter which has been issued a charter certificate by the national
union or federation before the Department of Labor and Employment within the sixty (60)-day period before the
expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, the Med-Arbiter shall automatically order an election by secret
ballot when the verified petition is supported by the written consent of at least twenty-five percent (25%) of all the
employees in the bargaining unit to ascertain the will of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit. To have a
valid election, at least a majority of all eligible voters in the unit must have cast their votes. The labor union receiving
the majority of the valid votes cast shall be certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of all the workers in the unit.
When an election which provides for three or more choices results in no choice receiving a majority of the valid votes
cast, a run-off election shall be conducted between the labor unions receiving the two highest number of
votes: Provided, That the total number of votes for all contending unions is at least fifty percent (50%) of the number
of votes cast. In cases where the petition was filed by a national union or federation, it shall not be required to
disclose the names of the local chapter's officers and members.

At the expiration of the freedom period, the employer shall continue to recognize the majority status of the incumbent
bargaining agent where no petition for certification election is filed."

Employer as Bystander- In a petition for certification whether filed by the employer or by a legitimate organization,
the only participation of the employer is: 1) to be notified or informed of the petition; and 2) to submit the list of its
employees during the pre-election conference.

Petition for Cancellation allowed to affect (delay) Certification Election:

Pizza Hut vs. Laguesma ( G.;R. No. 115077, 18 April 1997)

It cannot be denied that the grounds invoked by petitioner for the cancellation of respondent Union's registration fall
under paragraph (a) and (c) of Article 239 of the Labor Code.to wit:

a) Misrepresentation, false statement or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the
constitution and by-laws or amendments thereto, the minutes of ratification, the list of members who
took part in the ratification of the constitution and by-laws or amendments thereto, the minutes of
ratification, the list of members who took part in the ratification;
b) x x x
c) Misrepresentation, false statements or fraud in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the
election of officers, the list of voters, or failure to submit these documents together with the list of the
newly elected-appointed officers and their postal addresses within thirty (30) days from election. x x x

The grounds ventilated in cancellation proceedings in accordance with Article 239 of the Labor Code constitute a
grave challenge to the right of respondent Union to ask for certification election. The Med-Arbiter should have looked
into the merits of the petition for cancellation before issuing an order calling for certification election. Registration
based on false and fraudulent statements and documents confer no legitimacy upon a labor organization irregularly
recognized, which, at best, holds on to a mere scrap of paper. Under such circumstances, the labor organization, not
being a legitimate labor organization, acquires no rights, particularly the right to ask for certification election in a
bargaining unit.

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HELD: The employer needs to be assured that the union it is dealing with is a bona fide organization. “Once
registered, the organization attains all the rights and privileges pertaining to a legitimate organization. Because such
rights and privileges are constitutionally guaranteed the activities that they may engage in directly or indirectly affect
public interest and should therefore be zealously protected.

Since the legal personality of the union was seriously challenged, it would have been prudent for the Med-Arbiter and
public respondent to grant the petitioner’s request to delay the certification election case until the issue of the
legality of the union’s registration had been resolved.

Petition was granted and the case remanded to the Department of Labor and Employment for further
proceedings in the petition for cancellation of union registration.

 Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club Incorporated vs. Tagaytay Highlands Employees Union-
[PGTWO, G.R. No. 142000, 22 January 2003]

After a certificate of registration is issued to a union, its legal personality cannot be subject to collateral attack. It
may be questioned only in an independent petition for cancellation in accordance with Section 5 of Rule V, Book
IV of the Rules to Implement the Labor Code (Implementing Rules) which section reads:

Sec. 5. Effect of registration. The labor organization or workers association shall be deemed registered and
vested with legal personality on the date of issuance of its certificate of registration. Such legal personality
cannot thereafter be subject to collateral attack, but may be questioned only in an independent petition for
cancellation in accordance with these Rules.

What determines nature of employment:

Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor:

Designation should be reconciled with the actual job description of subject employees x x x The mere fact that an
employee is designated manager does not necessarily make him one. Otherwise, there would be an absurd situation
where one can be given the title just to be deprived of the right to be a member of a union. In the case of National
Steel Corporation vs. Laguesma (G. R. No. 103743, January 29, 1996), it was stressed that:

What is essential is the nature of the employees’ function and not the nomenclature or title given to the job
which determines whether the employee has rank-and-file or managerial status or whether he is a
supervisory employee.

Affiliation to/disaffiliation from, federation/mother union; when allowed;

Affiliation of an independently registered union must be reported to the Regional Office that issued its certificate of
registration..
Requirements for affiliation:
a. Board Resolution of the union approving the affiliation;
b. Minutes of the general membership meeting approving the affiliation;
c. The total number of members of the organization and the total number of votes approving the affiliation;
d. Certificate of affiliation issued by the federation in favour of the independently registered organization;
e. Written notice to the employer of the affiliation.

Notice of mergers and consolidation:

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Notice of mergers and consolidation of independently registered unions or chartered locals and workers’ associations
shall be recorded in the Regional Office that issued their certificates of registration; while those of federations and
national unions must be registered with the Bureau of Labor Relations.

Requirements of notice of mergers;

a. Minutes of meeting or convention where merger was approved; list of all the members of all of the
organizations and the list of members who voted in favour of the merger;
b. The amended constitution and by-laws and the minutes of the meeting where it was adopted and ratified,
unless the same was adopted and ratified in the same convention where merger was approved.
 The merger shall be known under the name of one of the merged independently registered unions as
approved by the other members;

Additional requirements for registration of federations:

a. Proof of the affiliation of at least ten locals or chapters each of which must be a duly recognized collective
bargaining representative in the establishment in which they operate;
b. The names and addresses of the companies where the locals or chapters operate and the list of all the
members in each company involved.

Requirements notice of consolidation: The same as in the mergers.

Effects of mergers:

The personality of the merged labor organization ceases and that of the absorbing organization subsists.

Effects of consolidation;
The personalities of the consolidated labor organizations cease to exist and a new one formed and the new
one absorbs all the rights, interest, and obligations of the consolidated organizations.

Unfair Labor Practices of Employers (Art. 249)

It shall be unlawful for an employer to commit any of the following unfair labor practices:

"(a) To interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their right to self-organization;

"(b) To require as a condition for employment that a person or an employee shall not join a labor organization or
shall withdraw from one to which he belongs;.

"(c) To contract out services or functions being performed by union members when such will interfere with, restrain
or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization;

"(d) To initiate, dominate, assist or otherwise interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization,
including the giving of financial or other support to it;.

"(e) To discriminate in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment in order to
encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization. Nothing in this Code or in any other law shall
prevent the parties from requiring membership in a recognized collective bargaining agent as a condition for
employment, except of those employees who are already members of another union at the time of the signing of the
collective bargaining agreement. Employees belonging to an appropriate collective bargaining unit who are not
members of the recognized collective bargaining agent may be assessed a reasonable fee equivalent to the dues

11
and other fees paid members of the recognized collective bargaining agent, if such non-union members accept the
benefits under the collective agreement: Provided, That the individual authorization required under Article 242,
paragraph (o), of this Code shall not apply to the non-members of the recognized collective bargaining agent;.

"(f) To dismiss, discharge, or otherwise prejudice or discriminate against an employee for having given or being
about to give testimony under this Code;

"(g) To violate the duty to bargain collectively as prescribed by this Code

"(h) To pay negotiation or attorney's fees to the union or its officers or agents as part of the settlement of any issue in
collective bargaining or any other dispute;

"(i) To violate or refuse to comply with voluntary arbitration awards or decisions relating to the implementation or
interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement; or

"(j) To violate a collective bargaining agreement.

"The provisions of the preceding paragraph notwithstanding, only the officers and agents of corporations,
associations or partnerships who have actually participated in, authorized or ratified unfair labor practices shall be
held criminally liable.

Unfair Labor Practice; right to self-organize. Respondent-company implemented a company-wide reorganization

which resulted in the abolition of petitioner’s position. Petitioner alleged that he was illegally dismissed and that
respondent-company is guilty of unfair labor practice because his functions were outsourced to labor-only
contractors. The Supreme Court held unfair labor practice refers to acts that violate the workers’ right to
organize. The prohibited acts are related to the workers’ right to self-organization and to the observance of a
CBA. Thus, an employer may be held liable for unfair labor practice only if it can be shown that his acts interfere with
his employees’ right to self-organization. Since there is no showing that the respondent company’s implementation of
the Right-Sizing Program was motivated by ill will, bad faith or malice, or that it was aimed at interfering with its
employees’ right to self-organization, there is no unfair labor practice to speak of in this case. Nelson A. Culili v.
Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc., et al. G.R. No. 165381, February 9, 2011.

Unfair Labor Practices of Labor (Art.) 250)

It shall be unlawful for a labor organization, its officers, agents or representatives to commit any of the following
unfair labor practices:

"(a) To restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their right to self-organization: Provided, That the labor
organization shall have the right to prescribe its own rules with respect to the acquisition or retention of membership;

"(b) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee, including discrimination against
an employee with respect to whom membership in such organization has been denied or terminated on any ground
other than the usual terms and conditions under which membership or continuation of membership is made available
to other members

"(c) To violate the duty, or refuse to bargain collectively with the employer, provided that it is the representative of
the employees;

12
"(d) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay or deliver any money or other things
of value, in the nature of an exaction, for services which are not performed or not to be performed, including the
demand for a fee for union negotiations";

(e) To ask for or accept negotiation or attorney's fees from employers as part of the settlement of any issue in
collective bargaining or any other dispute;

"(f) To violate or refuse to comply with voluntary arbitration awards or decisions relating to the implementation or
interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement; or.

"(g) To violate a collective bargaining agreement.

"The provisions of the preceding paragraph notwithstanding, only the officers or agents or members of labor
associations or organizations who have actually participated in, authorized or ratified unfair labor practices shall be
held criminally liable.”

Interference in employees’ right to self – organization:

General Milling Corporation vs. The Court of Appeals [G. R. No. 146728, Feb. 11, 2004];

The act of the employer of presenting the letters of resignation from the union of 13 union members taken as clear
indication of pressure on its employees. The employer presented the letters to prove that the union no longer enjoyed
popular support and the ill-timed letters of resignation indicate interference of the employer with the workers right to
self organization. Eemployer was found guilty of unfair labor organization.

Hacienda Fatima vs. National Federation of Sugarcane Workers – Food and General Trade, [G. R. No. 149440,
Jan. 28,2003];

The employer’s refusal to bargain; acts of inducements resulting in the promotion of those who withdraw their
membership from the union; the use of armed guards to prevent the organizers to come in, and the dismissal of union
officials and members were found sufficient proof that the employer interfered on the workers’ right to self-organization.
Employer held guilty of unfair labor practice.

De Leon vs. NLRC and Fortune Tobacco Corporation [G. R. No. 112661, May 30, 2001]

Petitioners are security guards employed by Fortune Integrated Services, Inc. (FISI) since the 1980s and have since
been posted at the premises of Fortune Tobacco Corporation (FTC) – in its main factory plant, its tobacco redrying
plant, and warehouse. It was found that while FISI appeared to have a separate identity, it was a mere instrumentality
of FTC tasked to provide security in its company premises. It was also found that FISI also had no other clients except
FTC and other companies belonging to Lucio Tan group of companies. The workers also recalled that their early pay
slips were paid by FTC,

The workers organized themselves and formed a union which was later certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of
all the security guards. On Feb. 1, 1991 the stockholders of FISI sold their stocks to a new set of stockholders which
renamed the corporation as Magnum Integrated Services, Inc., (MISI).

On Oct. 15, 1991, FTC, without any reason given, preterminated its contract of security services with MISI and
contracted 2 other agencies to provide security. This resulted in the displacement of the petitioners. Not having any
other clients, MISI failed to give new assignments.

It was found that the acts of the company were meant to remove petitioners from the company and thus frustrate the
union and block their demands in accordance with the labor standards laws.

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ULP Committed by Unions

Featherbedding" -- to cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay or deliver any money
or other things of value, in the nature of an exaction, for services which are not performed or not to be performed,
including the demand for a fee for union negotiations (Art. 249-d, LC).

A QUALIFIED ULP; VIOLATION OF A CBA.

Arts. 248 and 249 of the Code ascribe as unfair labor practice for either party to violate a collective bargaining
agreement. However, this is qualified by a new chapter incorporated by R.A. 6715 which provides, inter alia, that
violations of a CBA shall no longer be treated as unfair labor practice, and shall be resolved as grievances under the
CBA, except those which are gross in character (Sec. 26, id.). For this purpose, gross violations of a CBA shall mean
flagrant and/or malicious refusal to comply with the economic provisions of such agreement (Cf. Art. 261, LC, as am.).
Hence, charges of CBA violations which are not gross in character as defined shall be resolved through the grievance
machinery of the CBA. The purpose of this change is to remove ULP cases from the compulsory arbitration system
and to course them instead to the voluntary mode. This is in keeping with the express preference of the Constitution
for voluntary modes in the resolution of industrial disputes (Art. XIII, Sec. 3, Const.). It is a substantial implementation
of this preference considering that a large number of ULP cases are based on this ground.

Nature of the Right to Strike. –

a. The right to strike is guaranteed both under the Constitution and the law.

The right to strike is both a constitutional and legal right of workers as it is an inherent right of
employers to declare lockouts within the context of labor relations and collective bargaining. [Ilaw at
Buklod ng Manggagawa (IBM) vs. NLRC, G. R. No. 91980, June 27, 1991].

Laws regulate the exercise of the right to strike in order to balance the interests of labor and
management together with public interest. (Lapanday Workers Union vs. NLRC G. G. No. 95494-97,
Sept. 7, 1995; Gold City Integrated Port Service, Inc., [INPORT] vs. NLRC, G. R. No. 103560, July
6, 1995).

b. Law may prohibit a strike but not the right to self-organization.

Sec. 3, Art. XIII guarantees the right to self organization. But laws may be passed prohibiting
some selected sectors of labor from resorting to strikes. ? Some labor practitioners rely on the
phrase IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW.

Strike –
Ttemporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of the workers as a result of an industrial dispute.
Includes: slowdowns, mass leaves, sitdowns, attempts to damage, destroy or sabotage plant equipment and
facilities and similar activities.

Slowdown – strike on the instalment plan. No total work stoppage but willful reduction of the rate of work
through concerted action by the workers in relation to a labor dispute.

Boycott of overtime –

Sporting of closely cropped hair or cleanly shaven heads after their union filed a notice of strike as a result
of CBA deadlock – considered as “illegal strike” because it violated the hotels’ grooming standards.(National

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 Union of Workers in the Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries [NUWHRAIN-APL-IUF] Dusit Hotel Nikko
Chapter vs. CA, G. R. No. 163942 and 166295, Nov. 11, 2008).

Lockout –

Temporary refusal of an employer to furnish work as a result of an industrial or labor dispute. I includes
shutdowns, mass retrenchment and dismissals initiated by the employer; It may also take the form of an
employer’s act of excluding employees who are union members. (Complex Electronics Employees
Association [CEEA], Etc., vs. NLRC, G. R. No. 121315, July 19, 1999).

Picketing –

The act of workers peacefully marching to and fro in the vicinity of an establishment involved in a labor
dispute usually attended by the carrying and display of signs, placards and banners intended to inform the
public about the dispute.

Right to picket part of right to engage in concerted activities for purposes of collective bargaining; also
guaranteed under the principle of freedom of speech guaranteed under the constitution.

Prohibited acts:

Peaceful picketing does not include acts of violence, coercion or intimidation or obstruction of public
thorough fares and the ingress-egress of company premises; Blocking and preventing employees of other
establishments/company not their employer; Use of fouls language during the picket.

When Picketing Becomes a Strike

The totality of the circumstances must be considered. In Sta. Rosa Coca-Cola Plant Empoyees Union vs.
Coca-Bottlers Phils, Inc. [G. R. No. 174302-3, Jan. 24, 2007] – employees refused to go to work although
their mass leave was denied; others deliberately absented themselves; while claiming it was just a picket,
the union had filed a second notice of strike after the first was opposed by employer.

Purpose of Strike or Lockout –

Collective bargaining;
For the workers’ mutual benefit –
The employer may declare a lockout to redress its grievance against the commission by the union of unfair
labor practice; to resolve a bargaining impasse.

Forms of Stikes –

As to nature:
Legal ; illegal; economic; Unfail labor practice of political stike; Slowdown; Wildcat strike; sit-down strike.

As to coverage:
General strike – employees belonging to different companies/establishments/industries;
Particular strike – covers one establishment or industry.

As to purpose:
Economic; ULP or political

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 As to extent of interests of strikers:
Primary – staged by the employees as to dispute directly affecting them;
Secondary – a strike staged by worker of an employer out of an issue that does not directly affect their
relationship but due to some circumstances affecting the workers such as when the employer persists to
deal with a third person against whom the workers have an existing grievance; usually staged to secure the
economic assistance of their employer to force the third person to yield to the union on the issues involving
it and said third person.
Sympathy – staged by the workers who do not have any particular demand but for the purpose of aiding,
directly or indirectly, other strikers in other establishments. One example – “welga ng bayan”

Requisites for Legaliity -

A strike is justified only if there exists an industrial or labor dispute, any controversy or matter concerning the
terms and conditions of employment or the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing,
maintaining, changing or arranging the terms and conditions of employment regardless of whether the
disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employees.

Mandatory Procedural Requisites: - Mandatory in the sense that if not observed, strike/lockout may be declared
illegal.

1. Must be based on a valid and factual ground;

2. Notice of strike/lockout must be filed with the NCMB-DOLE at least 24 hours before the taking or the
strike/lockout vote, the date and time, place thereof;
3. A strike/lockout vote must be taken where a majority of the members of the union, in case of a strike,
or the members of the board of Directors of the corporation or association or of the partners in a
partnership in case of a lockout, in a meeting called for the purpose, must approve it.
4. The strike/lockout vote should be submitted to the DOLE-NCMB at least 7 days before the intended
trike/lockout.
5. Cooling-off period – 15 days in case of unfair labor practices; 30 days in case of collective bargaining
deadlock; must be fully observed. (Exception – union busting)

6. 7-day waiting period or strike/lockout ban after the submission of the strike/lockout vote to the NCMB-
DOLE must be fully observed.

Valid grounds:

1. Collective bargaining deadlock (economic strike);

2. Unfair labor practice – political (San Miguel Corp. vs. NLRC G. R. No. 99266, March 2, 1999)
See Art. 248 for ULP on part of the employers; Art. 249, ULP for labor organizations.

Note: only GROSS violations of the CBA may now be a ground for a strike. Others must be the subject
of grievance.

Observance of the cooling off period:

ULP – 15 days.
Exception- if ULP involves dismissal of a union officer and the existence of the union is threatened, the
cooling off period requirement does not apply. Union may strike immediately.
Bargaining deadlock – 30 days.
7-day period required after the submission of the strike vote.
Cooling off period is counted from the time of the filing of the notice of strike/lock out.

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 Deficiency of just one day in cooling off period held fatal – CCBPI Postmix Workers Unon vs. NLRC[G. R.
No. 114521, Nov. 27, 1998] and Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils., Inc. vs. NLRC [g. R. No. 12349], Nov. 27,
1998, 229 SCRA 410]

What constitutes a national interest case:

Philthread Workers Union (PTWU) vs. Confesor [G.R. No. 120751 March 17, 1999]. Assumption of jurisdiction on the
alleged “obtaining circumstances” and not on a determination that the industry involved in the dispute is one
indispensable to the national interest, the standard set by the legislature, constitutes grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack of or excess of jurisdiction.

Phimco Industries, Inc., vs. Brillantes [304 SCRA 747]. The match industry can scarcely be considered as an industry
indispensable to the national interest as it is no in the same category as “generation or distribution of energy, or those
undertaken by banks, hospitals, and export-oriented industries”.

Assumption of Jurisdiction/Certification of Strike/Lockout

Grounds:
Vital Industries indispensable to national interest:
Ex. Power generation or distribution of energy; banks, hospitals and companies in export processing zones.
RA 6715 deleted the listings; left to the discretion of the Secretary of Labor and Employment. In a case
however, the listings in Letter of Instruction 368 an Presidential Decree No. 823 were cited as basis/
(Philcom Employees Union vs. Phil Global Philippine Communications [G. R.No. 144215, July 17, 2006].

Extent of power to assume and certify strike cases;

Etraordinary authority but must be limited to industries of national interest.
There must be prior hearing before issuance of assumption or certification order.
Assumption of jurisdiction and certification for compulsory arbitration should not be used to impede the right
to strike. Rather must be viewed as a means to hasten the resolution of the dispute that gave way to the
strike/lockout.

Effects of Assumtion of jurisdiction/Certification:

1. On intended strike/lockout – deemed enjoined.
2. On actual strike/lockout – all striking and locked out employees shall immediately return to work and the
employer enjoined to admit them;
3. On cases already filed or may be filed – all other cases already filed or to be filed shall be considered
subsumed in the strike case;
4. On other pending cases – the parties to a certified case, under pain of contempt must inform their
counsels and the NLRC of all pending cases related to the certified case.

Return to Work Order – enforceable regardless of legality of strike.

Metrolab Industries vs. Roldan-Confesor, [G. R. No. 108855, 28 February 1996, SCRA 182; 324 Phil. 416] –
“Under the same terms and conditions prevailing before the strike”.
The DOLE Secretary assumed jurisdiction over the strike. Pending resolution of the dispute, management laid-off 94
of its rank-and-file employees. In her decision, the Secretary ordered the reinstatement of the laid-off employees and
rejected the claim of management prerogative.
HELD: When a labor dispute has in fact occurred and a general injunction has been issued restraining the
commission of disruptive acts, management prerogatives must always be exercised consistently with the statutory
objective.”

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Phimco Industries, Inc. vs. Brillantes, [G. R.. No. 120751, 17 March 1999, 304 SCRA 747] – the match industry
can scarcely be considered as an industry indispensable to the national interest as it is not in the same category as
“generation or distribution of energy, or those undertaken by banks, hospitals, and export-oriented industries.”

Capitol Medical Center, Inc., vs. Trajano, [G. R. NO. 155690, 30 June 2005] – Mere participation in an illegal strike
does not necessarily deserve dismissal; it must be proven. (union officers; union members, must be guilty of illegal
acts).

San Miguel Corporation vs. NLRC, [G. R. No. 119293, 10 June 2003] – Exception to rule that strikes or lockouts
may not be enjoined: When illegal acts are committed or threatened to be committed during the strike.

Effect of conversion of notice of strike to preventive mediation – the notice of strike is deemed withdrawn; need to file
a new notice of strike.

Injunction does not apply only to the illegal acts but to the strike itself.

Compulsory Arbitration - When the consent of one of the parties is enforced by statutory provisions, the proceeding
is referred to as compulsory arbitration In labor cases, compulsory arbitration is the process of settlement of labor
disputes by a government agency which has the authority to investigate and to make an award which is binding on all
the parties. (G.R. No. 55159, 22 Dec. 89).

When sitting in a compulsory arbitration certified to by the Secretary of Labor, the NLRC is not sitting as a judicial court
but as an administrative body charged with the duty to implement the order of the Secretary. Its function only is to
formulate the terms and conditions of the CBA and cannot go beyond the scope of the order. Moreover, the Commission
is further tasked to act within the earliest time possible and with the end in view that its action would not only serve the
interests of the parties alone, but would also have favorable implications to the community and to the economy as a
whole. This is the clear intention of the legislative body in enacting Art. 263 paragraph (g) of the Labor Code, as
amended by Section 27 of R.A. 6175 x x x
Term of CBA: Representation aspect (political) – 5 years; Economic aspect – 3 years.

Retroactivity of CBA – If concluded within 6 months after expiry date, the CBA retroacts to the day after the expiry
date; If concluded beyond the 6-month period after expiry date, the parties shall negotiate the date of effectivity.

Jurisdiction: Original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide:

Labor Arbiters:

1. Unfair Labor practice cases;

2. Termination disputes;
3. Cases involving wages, rates of pay, hours of work and other terms and conditions of work, if accompanied
with claim for reinstatement;
4. Claims for moral exemplary and other forms of damages arising from employer-employee relations;
5. Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of the Labor Code, including questions on legality/illegality of
strikes or lock-outs.
6. All other claims arising from employer-employee relations, including those of persons in the domestic or
household service, when the amount involved exceeds PhP 5K, EXCEPT claims for Employees
Compensation, Social Security, Medicare, and maternity benefits.

NOTE; Cases arising from the interpretation or implementation of CBAs and those arising from interpretation and
enforcement of company personnel policies shall be disposed of by the Labor Arbiter by referring them to the
grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration as may be provided in the CBA.

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The Commission:

1. Exclusive appellate jurisdiction over cases decided by the Labor Arbiters.

Bureau of Labor Relations: Original and exclusive jurisdiction over inter-union and intra-union conflicts, all disputes,
grievances or problems arising from or affecting labor-management relations in the workplace, whether agricultural or
non-agricultural, except those arising from the implementation or interpretation of CBAs which shall be the subject of
grievance procedure and/or voluntary arbitration.

1. Labor relations unit and CBA registration unit;

2. Med-Arbitration Unit – in charge of CBA registration, processing application for registration of independent
unions, chartered locals or local chapters.

National Conciliation and Mediation Board: The agency attached to the DOLE charged with the settlement of
disputes through conciliation, mediation and of the promotion of voluntary modes of labor dispute prevention and
settlement.

Republic Act No. 10151 (2011) and DOLE Advisory No. 01-2015 – Provisions of the Labor Code were
renumbered.

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