UDHR
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members
of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have
outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy
freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest
aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion
against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of
men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in
larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United
Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental
freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for
the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end
that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall
strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective
recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among
the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction
of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis
of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person
belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of
sovereignty.
Article 23.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
ICCPR
Article 22
1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form
and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed
by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or
public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection
of the rights and freedoms of others. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful
restrictions on members of the armed forces and of the police in their exercise of this right.
3. Nothing in this article shall authorize States Parties to the International Labour Organisation
Convention of 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize
to take legislative measures which would prejudice, or to apply the law in such a manner as to
prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.
ICESCR
Article 2
1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through
international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of
its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights
recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption
of legislative measures.
2. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated
in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
3. Developing countries, with due regard to human rights and their national economy, may
determine to what extent they would guarantee the economic rights recognized in the present
Covenant to non-nationals.
Article 8
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure:
(a) The right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice, subject only
to the rules of the organization concerned, for the promotion and protection of his economic and
social interests. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those
prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national
security or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others;
(b) The right of trade unions to establish national federations or confederations and the right of the
latter to form or join international trade-union organizations;
(c) The right of trade unions to function freely subject to no limitations other than those prescribed
by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or
public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others;
(d) The right to strike, provided that it is exercised in conformity with the laws of the particular
country.
2. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights
by members of the armed forces or of the police or of the administration of the State.
3. Nothing in this article shall authorize States Parties to the International Labour Organisation
Convention of 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize
to take legislative measures which would prejudice, or apply the law in such a manner as would
prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.
ILO Convention No. 87: Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of
the Right to Organise (Entry into force: 04 Jul 1950)
Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at San Francisco by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office,
and having met in its Thirty-first Session on 17 June 1948;
Having decided to adopt, in the form of a Convention, certain proposals concerning freedom of
association and protection of the right to organise, which is the seventh item on the agenda of the
session;
Considering that the Preamble to the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation
declares "recognition of the principle of freedom of association" to be a means of improving
conditions of labour and of establishing peace;
Considering that the Declaration of Philadelphia reaffirms that "freedom of expression and of
association are essential to sustained progress";
Considering that the International Labour Conference, at its Thirtieth Session, unanimously
adopted the principles which should form the basis for international regulation;
Considering that the General Assembly of the United Nations, at its Second Session, endorsed
these principles and requested the International Labour Organisation to continue every effort in
order that it may be possible to adopt one or several international Conventions;
1
adopts this ninth day of July of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-eight the following
Convention, which may be cited as the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organise Convention, 1948:
PART I. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION
Article 1
Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for which this Convention is in force
undertakes to give effect to the following provisions.
Article 2
Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and,
subject only to the rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing
without previous authorisation.
Article 3
1. Workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right to draw up their constitutions and
rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities
and to formulate their programmes.
2. The public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede
the lawful exercise thereof.
Article 4
Workers' and employers' organisations shall not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by
administrative authority.
Article 5
Workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right to establish and join federations and
confederations and any such organisation, federation or confederation shall have the right to
affiliate with international organisations of workers and employers.
Article 6
The provisions of Articles 2, 3 and 4 hereof apply to federations and confederations of workers'
and employers' organisations.
Article 7
The acquisition of legal personality by workers' and employers' organisations, federations and
confederations shall not be made subject to conditions of such a character as to restrict the
application of the provisions of Articles 2, 3 and 4 hereof.
Article 8
1. In exercising the rights provided for in this Convention workers and employers and their
respective organisations, like other persons or organised collectivities, shall respect the law of the
land.
2. The law of the land shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair, the
guarantees provided for in this Convention.
Article 9
1. The extent to which the guarantees provided for in this Convention shall apply to the armed
forces and the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations.
2. In accordance with the principle set forth in paragraph 8 of Article 19 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organisation the ratification of this Convention by any Member shall not be
deemed to affect any existing law, award, custom or agreement in virtue of which members of the
armed forces or the police enjoy any right guaranteed by this Convention.
Article 10
In this Convention the term organisation means any organisation of workers or of employers for
furthering and defending the interests of workers or of employers.
PART II. PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE
Article 11
Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for which this Convention is in force
undertakes to take all necessary and appropriate measures to ensure that workers and employers
may exercise freely the right to organise.
PART III. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Article 12
1.In respect of the territories referred to in Article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation as amended by the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation Instrument
of Amendment 1946, other than the territories referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the said article
as so amended, each Member of the Organisation which ratifies this Convention shall
communicate to the Director-General of the International Labour Office with or as soon as possible
after its ratification a declaration stating:
(a) the territories in respect of which it undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be
applied without modification;
(b) the territories in respect of which it undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be
applied subject to modifications, together with details of the said modifications;
(c) the territories in respect of which the Convention is inapplicable and in such cases the grounds
on which it is inapplicable;
(d) the territories in respect of which it reserves its decision.
2. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be
deemed to be an integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of ratification.
3. Any Member may at any time by a subsequent declaration cancel in whole or in part any
reservations made in its original declaration in virtue of subparagraphs (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph
1 of this Article.
4. Any Member may, at any time at which the Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance
with the provisions of Article 16, communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in
any other respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position in respect
of such territories as it may specify.
Article 13
1. Where the subject-matter of this Convention is within the self-governing powers of any non-
metropolitan territory, the Member responsible for the international relations of that territory may,
in agreement with the government of the territory, communicate to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office a declaration accepting on behalf of the territory the obligations of this
Convention.
2. A declaration accepting the obligations of this Convention may be communicated to the Director-
General of the International Labour Office:
(a) by two or more Members of the Organisation in respect of any territory which is under their
joint authority; or
(b) by any international authority responsible for the administration of any territory, in virtue of the
Charter of the United Nations or otherwise, in respect of any such territory.
3. Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office in
accordance with the preceding paragraphs of this Article shall indicate whether the provisions of
the Convention will be applied in the territory concerned without modification or subject to
modifications; when the declaration indicates that the provisions of the Convention will be applied
subject to modifications it shall give details of the said modifications.
4. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may at any time by a subsequent
declaration renounce in whole or in part the right to have recourse to any modification indicated in
any former declaration.
5. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may, at any time at which this
Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of Article 16, communicate
to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of any former
declaration and stating the present position in respect of the application of the Convention.
2
PART IV. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 14
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office for registration.
Article 15
1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour
Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members
have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date
on which its ratifications has been registered.
Article 16
1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years
from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not
take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following
the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right
of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and,
thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the
terms provided for in this Article.
Article 17
1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the
International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications, declarations and
denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification
communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the
Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
Article 18
The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the
United Nations full particulars of all ratifications, declarations and acts of denunciation registered
by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding articles.
Article 19
At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office
shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall
examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in
whole or in part.
Article 20
1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part,
then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the
immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16 above, if
and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall
cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those
Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
Article 21
The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.
ILO Convention No. 98: Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the
Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively (Entry into force: 18 Jul 1951)
Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and
having met in its Thirty-second Session on 8 June 1949, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals concerning the application of the principles
of the right to organise and to bargain collectively, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the
session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,
adopts this first day of July of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine the following
Convention, which may be cited as the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention,
1949:
Article 1
1. Workers shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of
their employment.
2. Such protection shall apply more particularly in respect of acts calculated to--
(a) make the employment of a worker subject to the condition that he shall not join a union or shall
relinquish trade union membership;
(b) cause the dismissal of or otherwise prejudice a worker by reason of union membership or
because of participation in union activities outside working hours or, with the consent of the
employer, within working hours.
Article 2
1. Workers' and employers' organisations shall enjoy adequate protection against any acts of
interference by each other or each other's agents or members in their establishment, functioning
or administration.
2. In particular, acts which are designed to promote the establishment of workers' organisations
under the domination of employers or employers' organisations, or to support workers'
organisations by financial or other means, with the object of placing such organisations under the
control of employers or employers' organisations, shall be deemed to constitute acts of
interference within the meaning of this Article.
Article 3
Machinery appropriate to national conditions shall be established, where necessary, for the
purpose of ensuring respect for the right to organise as defined in the preceding Articles.
Article 4
Measures appropriate to national conditions shall be taken, where necessary, to encourage and
promote the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiation between
employers or employers' organisations and workers' organisations, with a view to the regulation
of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements.
Article 5
1. The extent to which the guarantees provided for in this Convention shall apply to the armed
forces and the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations.
2. In accordance with the principle set forth in paragraph 8 of Article 19 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organisation the ratification of this Convention by any Member shall not be
deemed to affect any existing law, award, custom or agreement in virtue of which members of the
armed forces or the police enjoy any right guaranteed by this Convention.
Article 6
This Convention does not deal with the position of public servants engaged in the administration
of the State, nor shall it be construed as prejudicing their rights or status in any way.
3
Article 7
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office for registration.
Article 8
1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour
Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members
have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date
on which its ratification has been registered.
Article 9
1. Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office in
accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation shall indicate --
(a) the territories in respect of which the Member concerned undertakes that the provisions of the
Convention shall be applied without modification;
(b) the territories in respect of which it undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be
applied subject to modifications, together with details of the said modifications;
(c) the territories in respect of which the Convention is inapplicable and in such cases the grounds
on which it is inapplicable;
(d) the territories in respect of which it reserves its decision pending further consideration of the
position.
2. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be
deemed to be an integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of ratification.
3. Any Member may at any time by a subsequent declaration cancel in whole or in part any
reservation made in its original declaration in virtue of subparagraph (b), (c) or (d) of paragraph 1
of this Article.
4. Any Member may, at any time at which the Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance
with the provisions of Article 11, communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in
any other respect the terms of any former declaration and stating the present position in respect
of such territories as it may specify.
Article 10
1. Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office in
accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of Article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation shall indicate whether the provisions of the Convention will be applied in the territory
concerned without modification or subject to modifications; when the declaration indicates that the
provisions of the Convention will be applied subject to modifications, it shall give details of the said
modifications.
2. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may at any time by a subsequent
declaration renounce in whole or in part the right to have recourse to any modification indicated in
any former declaration.
3. The Member, Members or international authority concerned may, at any time at which this
Convention is subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of Article 11, communicate
to the Director-General a declaration modifying in any other respect the terms of any former
declaration and stating the present position in respect of the application of the Convention.
Article 11
1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years
from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not
take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following
the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right
of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and,
thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the
terms provided for in this Article.
Article 12
1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the
International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications, declarations and
denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification
communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the
Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
Article 13
The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the
United Nations full particulars of all ratifications, declarations and acts of denunciation registered
by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding articles.
Article 14
At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office
shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall
examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in
whole or in part.
Article 15
1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part,
then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides,
(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the
immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 11 above, if
and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force, this Convention shall
cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those
Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
Article 16
The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.
1987 Constitution, Art. III, Sec. 8
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.
Art. XIII, Sec. 3
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
on investments, and to expansion and growth.
4
1935 Constitution, Art. III, Sec. 6
The right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged.
1973 Constitution, Art. IV, Sec. 7
The right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged.
Labor Code
ART. 253. [243] Coverage and Employees' Right to Self-Organization. All persons employed in
commercial, industrial and agricultural enterprises and in 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 organizations of their own choosing for purposes of collective
bargaining. Ambulant, intermittent and itinerant workers, self-employed people, rural workers and
those without any definite employers may form labor organizations for their mutual aid and
protection.
ART. 254. [244] Right of Employees in the Public Service. Employees of government corporations
established under the Corporation Code shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively
with their respective employers. All other employees in the civil service shall have the right to form
associations for purposes not contrary to law.
ART. 255. [245] Ineligibility of Managerial Employees to Join any Labor Organization; Right of
Supervisory Employees. 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.
ART. 260. [249] Unfair Labor Practices of Labor Organizations. It shall be unfair labor practice for
a labor organization, its officers, agents or representatives:
(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 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 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 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 negotiation or attorney’s fees as part of the settlement of any issue in
collective bargaining or any other dispute; or
(f) To violate a collective bargaining agreement.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph notwithstanding, only the officers, members of
governing boards, representatives 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.
ART. 219. [212] Definitions.
(f) "Employee" includes any person in the employ of an employer. The term shall not be limited to
the employees of a particular employer, unless the Code so explicitly states. It shall include any
individual whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute or
because of any unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and
regular employment.
(m) "Managerial employee" is one who is vested with the powers or prerogatives to lay down and
execute management policies and/or to hire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall, discharge, assign
or discipline employees. Supervisory employees 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. All employees not
falling within any of the above definitions are considered rank-and-file employees for purposes of
this Book.
a) U.S. Laws
(1) National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)
(2) US Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act)
b) Pre Labor Code
(1) Commonwealth Act No. 103
(2) Industrial Peace Act (R.A. 875 of 1953)
RA 875: AN ACT TO PROMOTE INDUSTRIAL PEACE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
(REPEALED BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442)
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy this Act:
(a) To eliminate the causes of industrial unrest by encouraging and protecting the exercise by
employees of their right to self-organization for the purpose of collective bargaining and for the
promotion of their moral, social, and economic well-being.
(b) To promote sound stable industrial peace and the advancement of the general welfare, health
and safety and the best interests of employers and employees by the settlement of issues
respecting terms and conditions of employment through the process of collective bargaining
between employers and representatives of their employees.
(c) To advance the settlement of issues between employers and employees through collective
bargaining by making available full and adequate governmental facilities for conciliation and
mediation to aid and encourage employers and representatives of their employees in reaching
and maintaining agreements concerning terms and conditions of employment and in making all
reasonable efforts to settle their differences by mutual agreement; and
(d) To avoid or minimize differences which arise between the parties to collective bargaining by
prescribing certain rules to be followed in the negotiation and administration of collective
bargaining agreements and by requiring the inclusion in any such agreement of provisions for
adequate notice of any proposed changes in the terms of such agreements, for the final
adjustment of grievances or questions regarding the application or interpretation of such
agreements and other provisions designated to prevent the subsequent arising of such
controversies.
Section 2. Definitions. - As used in this Act -
(a) "Court" means the Court of Industrial Relations established by Commonwealth Act Numbered
One hundred and three, as amended, unless another Court shall be specified.
(b) "Service" means the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor.
(c) The term "employer" includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or
indirectly but shall not include any labor organization (otherwise than when acting as an employer)
or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization.
(d) The term "employee" shall include any employee and shall not be limited to the employee of a
particular employer unless the Act explicitly states otherwise and shall include any individual
whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute or
because of any unfair labor practice and who has not obtained any other substantially equivalent
and regular employment.
5
(e) "Labor organization" means any union or association of employees which exists, in whole or
in part, for the purpose of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning terms and
conditions of employment.
(f) "Legitimate labor organization" means any labor organization registered by the Department of
Labor, and includes any branch or local thereof.
(g) The term "company union" means a labor organization the formation or administration of which
has been assisted by any Act defined in Section four as an unfair labor practice.
(h) "Representative" includes a legitimate labor organization or any officer or agent of such
organization, whether or not employed by the employer or employees whom he represents.
(i) The term "unfair labor practice" means any unfair labor practice listed in section four.
(j) The term "labor dispute" includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure or conditions of
employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing,
maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of
whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
(k) "Supervisor" means any person having authority in the interest of an employer, to hire, transfer,
suspend, lay-off, recall, discharge, assign, recommend, or discipline other employees, or
responsibly to direct them, and to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such acts
if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routinary or
clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment.
(l) "Strike" means any temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of employees as a
result of an industrial dispute.
(m) "Lockout" means the temporary refusal of any employer to furnish work as a result of an
industrial dispute.
Section 3. Employees' Right to Self-Organization. - Employees shall have the right to self-
organization and to form, join or assist labor organizations of their own choosing for the purpose
collective bargaining through representatives of their own choosing and to engage in concerted
activities for the purpose of collective bargaining and other mutual aid or protection. Individuals
employed as supervisors shall not be eligible for membership in a labor organization of employees
under their supervision but may form separate organizations of their own.
Section 4. Unfair Labor Practices. -
(a) It shall be unfair labor practice for an employer:
(1) To interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed in
section three;
(2) 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;
(3) To initiate, dominate, assist in or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor
organization or to contribute financial or other support to it;
(4) To discriminate in regard to hire or tenure of employment of any term or condition of
employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization: Provided, That
nothing in this Act or in any other Act or statute of the Republic of the Philippines shall preclude
an employer from making an agreement with a labor organization to require as a condition of
employment membership therein, if such labor organization is the representative of the employees
as provided in section twelve;
(5) To dismiss, discharge, or otherwise prejudice or discriminate against an employee for having
filed charges or for having given or being about to give testimony under this Act;
(6) To refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees subject to the
provisions of section thirteen and fourteen.
(b) It shall be unfair labor practice for organization or its agents:
(1) To restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights under section three, provided
that this paragraph shall not impair the right of a labor organization to prescribe its own rules with
respect to the acquisition or retention of membership therein;
(2) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of
subsection (a) (4) or to discriminate against an employee with respect to whom membership in
such organization has been denied or terminated on some ground other than the usual terms and
conditions under which membership or continuation of membership is made available to other
members.
(3) To refuse to bargain collectively with the employer, provided it is the representative of the
employees subject to the provisions of sections thirteen and fourteen.
(4) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay or deliver any
money or other thing of value, in the nature of an exaction, for services which are not performed
or not to be performed.
Section 5. Unfair Labor Practice Cases. -
(a) The Court shall have jurisdiction over the prevention of unfair labor practices and is empowered
to prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice. This power shall be exclusive
and shall not be affected by any other means of adjustment or prevention that has been or may
be established by an agreement, code, law or otherwise.
(b) That Court shall observe the following procedure without resort to mediation and conciliation
as provided in section four of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred and three, as amended,
to any pre-trial procedure. Whenever it is charged by an offended party or his representative that
any person has engaged or is engaging in any such unfair labor practice, the Court or any agency
or agent designated by the Court must investigate such charge and shall have the power to issue
and cause to be served upon such person a complaint stating the charges in that respect and
containing a notice of hearing before the Court or a member thereof, or before a designated
Hearing Examiner at the time and place fixed therein not less than five nor more than ten days
after serving the said complaint. The person complained of shall have the right to file an answer
to the complaint and to appear in person or otherwise (but if the Court shall so request, the
appearance shall be personal) and give testimony at the place and time fixed in the complaint. In
the discretion of the Court, a member thereof or a Hearing Examiner, any other person may be
allowed to be intervene in the said proceeding and to present testimony. In such proceeding, the
rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling and it is the spirit and
intention of this Act that the Court and its members and Hearing Examiners shall use every and
all reasonable means to ascertain the facts in each case speedily and objectively and without
regard to technicalities of law or procedure. In rendering its decisions, the Court shall not be bound
solely by the evidence presented during the hearing but may avail itself of all other means such
as (but not limited to) ocular inspections and questioning of well-informed persons which results
must be made a part of the record. In the proceeding before the Court or a Hearing Examiner
thereof, the parties shall not be required to be represented by legal counsel and it shall be the duty
and obligation of the Court or Hearing Examiner to examine and cross-examine witnesses on
behalf of the parties and to assist in the orderly presentation of the evidence.
(c) The testimony taken by the Court or such member of the Court or the Hearing Examiner shall
be reduced to writing and filed with the Court. If, after investigation, the Court shall be of the opinion
that any person named in the complaint has engaged in or engaging in any unfair labor practice,
then the Court shall state its findings of fact and shall issue and cause to be served on such person
an order requiring such person to cease and desist from such unfair labor practice and take such
affirmative action as will effectuate the policies of this Act, including (but not limited to)
reinstatement of employees with or without back-pay and including rights of the employees prior
to dismissal including seniority. Such order may further require such person to post the Court's
order and findings in a place available to all the employees and to make reports from time to time
showing the extent to which the Court's order has been complied with. If after investigation the
Court shall be of the opinion that no person named in the complaint has engaged in or is engaging
in any such unfair labor practice, then the Court shall state its findings of fact and shall issue an
order dismissing the said complaint. If the complaining party withdraws its complaint, the Court
shall dismiss the case.
(d) The Court shall decide all incidental motions raised in any unfair labor practice cases within
fifteen days from submission of the same. All other matters relative to such disputes including the
main case shall be decided within thirty days after the submission of the case. This provision shall
be considered as mandatory in character.
(e) The Court or any judge thereof shall have all the inherent power of a Court of Justice provided
in Rule One hundred and twenty-four of the rules of court as well as the power to punish direct
and indirect contempts as provided in Rule sixty-four of the Rules of Court, under the same
6
procedure and penalties provided therein. Any violation of any order or decision of the Court shall
constitute contempt of court.
Section 6. Unfair Labor Practice Cases - Appeals. - Any person aggrieved by any order of the
Court may appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines within ten days after the issuing of the
Court's order but this appeal shall not stay the order of the Court and the person or persons named
in the Court order shall meanwhile obey said order. The findings of the Court with respect to
questions of fact if supported by substantial evidence on the record shall be conclusive. The
appeal to the Supreme Court shall be limited to questions of law only.
Section 7. Fixing Working Conditions by Court Order. - In order to prevent undue restriction
of free enterprise for capital and labor and to encourage the truly democratic method of regulating
the relations between the employer and employee by means of an agreement freely entered into
in collective bargaining, no court of the Philippines shall have the power to set wages, rates of
pay, hours of employment, or conditions of employment except as in this Act is otherwise provided
and except as is provided in Republic Act Numbered Six Hundred two and Commonwealth Act
Numbered Four hundred forty-four as to hours of works.
Section 8. Private Contracts Contravening Employee Rights. - Every undertaking or promise
hereafter made, whether written or oral, express or implied, constituting or contained in any
contract or agreement of hiring or employment between any individual firm, company, association
or corporation and any employee or prospective employee of the same shall be null and void if
thereby -
(a) Either party to such contract or agreement undertakes or promises not to join, become or
remain a member of any labor organization or of any employer organization; or
(b) Either party to such contract or agreement undertakes or promises that he will withdraw from
an employment relation in the event that he joins, becomes or remains a member of any labor
organization or of any employer organization.
(c) Either party undertakes or promises to permit the commission of any of the unfair labor
practices defined in section four hereof.
Section 9. Injunctions in Labor Disputes. -
(a) No Court, Commission or Board of the Philippines shall have jurisdiction, except as provided
in section ten of this Act, to issue any restraining order, temporary or permanent injunction in any
case involving or growing out of labor dispute to prohibit any person or persons participating or
interested in such dispute from doing, whether singly or in concert, any of the following acts:
(1) Ceasing or refusing to perform any work or to remain in any relation of employment;
(2) Becoming or remaining a member of any labor organization or of any employee organization
regardless of any undertaking or promise as is described in section eight of this Act;
(3) Paying or giving to, or withholding from, any person participating or interested in such labor
dispute, any strike or unemployment benefits or insurance, or moneys or things of value;
(4) By all lawful means aiding any person participating or interested in any labor dispute who is
being proceeded against in, or is prosecuting any action or suit in any court of the Philippines;
(5) Giving publicity to the existence of, or the facts involved in any labor dispute, whether by
advertising, speaking, patrolling, or by any method not involving fraud or violence;
(6) Assembling peaceably to act or to organize to act in promotion of their interests in a labor
dispute;
(7) Advising or notifying any person of an intention to do any of the acts heretofore specified;
(8) Agreeing with other persons to do or not to do any of the acts heretofore specified; and
(9) Advising, urging, or otherwise causing or inducing without fraud or violence, the acts heretofore
specified, regardless of any such undertaking or promise as is described in section eight of this
Act.
(b) No court of the Philippines shall have jurisdiction to issue a restraining order or temporary or
permanent injunction upon the ground that any of the persons participating or interested in a labor
dispute constitute or are engaged in an unlawful combination or conspiracy because of the doing
in concert of the acts enumerated in paragraph (a) above.
(c) No officer or member of any association or organization, and no association or organization
participating or interested in a labor dispute shall be held responsible or liable for the unlawful acts
of individual officers, members, or agents, except upon proof of actual participation in, or actual
authorization of such acts or of ratifying of such acts after actual knowledge thereof.
(d) No court of the Philippines shall have jurisdiction to issue a temporary or permanent injunction
in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, as herein defined except after hearing the
testimony of witnesses in open court (with opportunity for cross-examination) in support of the
allegations of a complaint made under oath, and testimony in opposition thereto, if offered, and
except after finding of fact by the Court, to the effect:
(1) That unlawful acts have been threatened and will be committed unless restrained, or have
been committed and will be continued unless restrained, but no injunction or temporary restraining
order shall be issued on account of any threat or unlawful act excepting against the person or
persons, association, or organization making the threat or committing the unlawful act or actually
authorizing or ratifying the same after actual knowledge thereof;
(2) That substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will follow;
(3) That as to each item of relief granted greater injury will be inflicted upon complainant by the
denial of relief that will be inflicted upon defendants by the granting of relief;
(4) That complaint has no adequate remedy at law; and
(5) That the public officers charged with the duty to protect complainant's property are unable or
unwilling to furnish adequate protection.
Such hearing shall be held after due and personal notice thereof has been given, in such manner
as the Court shall direct, to all known persons against whom relief is sought, and also to the chief
of those public officials of the province or city within which the unlawful acts have been threatened
or committed charged with the duty to protect complainant's property: Provided, however, That if
a complainant shall also allege that, unless a temporary restraining order shall be issued without
notice, a substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will be unavoidable, such a
temporary restraining order may be issued upon testimony under oath, sufficient, if sustained, to
justify the court in issuing a temporary injunction upon hearing after notice. Such a temporary
restraining order shall be effective for no longer than fifty days and shall become void at the
expiration of said five days. No temporary restraining order or temporary injunction shall be issued
except on condition that complainant shall first file an undertaking with adequate security in an
amount to be fixed by the Court sufficient to recompense those enjoined for any loss, expense, or
damage caused by the improvident or erroneous issuance of such order or injunction, including
all reasonable costs, (together with a reasonable attorney's fee) and expense of defense against
the order or against the granting of any injunctive relief sought in the same proceeding and
subsequently denied by the Court.
The undertaking herein mentioned shall be understood to signify an agreement entered into by
the complainant and the surety upon which a decree may be rendered in the same suit or
proceeding against said complainant and surety, upon a hearing to assess damages of which
hearing complainant and surety shall have reasonable notice, the said complainant and surety
submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court for that purpose. But nothing herein contained
shall deprive any party having a claim or cause of action under or upon such undertaking from
electing to pursue his ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity.
(e) No restraining order or injunctive relief shall be granted to any complainant who has failed to
comply with any obligation imposed by law which is involved in the labor dispute in question, or
who has failed to make every reasonable effort to settle such dispute by negotiation or with the
aid of any available governmental machinery of mediation or by voluntary arbitration.
(f) No restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction shall be granted in a case involving
or growing out of a labor dispute, except on the basis of findings of fact made and filed by the court
in the record of the case prior to the issuance of such restraining order or injunction; and every
restraining order or injunction granted in a case involving or growing out of a labor dispute shall
include only a prohibition of such specific act or acts as may be expressly complained of in the bill
of complaint or petition filed in such case and as shall be expressly included in said findings of fact
made and filed by the court as provided herein:
(1) A case shall be held to involve or to grow out of a labor dispute when the case involves persons
who are engaged in the same industry, trade, craft, or occupation; or have direct or indirect
interests therein; or who are employees of the same employer; or who are members of the same
7
or an affiliated organization of employers or employees; whether such dispute is (i) between one
or more employees or association of employers and one or more employees or association of
employees; (ii) between one or more employers or association of employers and one or more
employees or association of employers; or (iii) between one or more employees or association of
employees and one or more employees or association of employees; or when the case involves
any conflicting or competing interests in "labor dispute" (as hereinbefore defined) of "persons
participating or interested" therein (as hereinafter defined).
(2) A person or association shall be held to be a person participating or interested in a labor dispute
if relief is sought against him or it, and if he or it is engaged in the same industry, trade, craft, or
occupation in which such dispute occurs, or has a direct or indirect interest therein, or is a member,
officer, or agent of any association composed in whole or in part of employers engaged in such
industry, trade, craft, or occupation.
Section 10. Labor Disputes in Industries Indispensable to the National Interest. - When in
the opinion of the President of the Philippines there exists a labor dispute in an industry
indispensable to the national interest and when such labor dispute is certified by the President to
the Court of Industrial Relations, said Court may cause to be issued a restraining order forbidding
the employees to strike or the employer to lockout the employees, pending an investigation by the
Court, and if no other solution to the dispute is found, the Court may issue an order fixing the terms
and conditions of employment.
Section 11. Prohibition Against Strikes in the Government. - The terms and conditions of
employment in the Government, including any political subdivision or instrumentality thereof, are
governed by law and it is declared to be the policy of this Act that employees therein shall not
strike for the purpose of securing changes or modification in their terms and conditions of
employment. Such employees may belong to any labor organization which does not impose the
obligation to strike or to join in strike: Provided, however, That this section shall apply only to
employees employed in governmental functions and not to those employed in proprietary functions
of the Government including but not limited to government corporations.
Section 12. Exclusive Collective Bargaining Representation of Labor Organizations. -
(a) The labor organization designated or selected for the purpose of collective bargaining by the
majority of the employees in an appropriate collective bargaining unit shall be the exclusive
representative of all the employees in such unit for the purpose of collective bargaining in respect
to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided, That
any individual employee or group of employees shall have the right at any time to present
grievances to their employer.
(b) Whenever a question arises concerning the representation of employees, the Court may
investigate such controversy and certify to the parties in writing the name of the labor organization
that has been designated or selected for the appropriate bargaining unit. In any such investigation,
the Court shall provide for a speedy and appropriate hearing upon due notice and if there is any
reasonable doubt as to whom the employees have chosen as their representative for purposes of
collective bargaining, the Court shall order a secret ballot election to be conducted by the
Department of Labor, to ascertain who is the freely chosen representative of the employees, under
such rules and regulations as the Court may prescribe, at which balloting representatives of the
contending parties shall have the right to attend as inspectors. Such a balloting shall be known as
a "certification election" and the Court shall not order certifications in the same unit more often
than once in twelve months. The organization receiving the majority of votes cast in such election
shall be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of such employees.
(c) In an instance where a petition is filed by at least ten per cent of the employees in the
appropriate unit requesting an election, it shall be mandatory on the Court to order an election for
the purpose of determining the representative of the employees for the appropriate bargaining
unit.
(d) When requested to bargain collectively, an employer may petition the Court for an election if
there has been no certification election held during the twelve months prior to the date of the
request of the employees, and if the employer has reasonable doubt as to the bargaining
representative of the employees in the appropriate unit.
(e) The Department of Labor shall conduct a certification election within 30 days of the date the
Court makes the request and in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Court.
The Department of Labor shall transmit the results of the election to the Court for its determination
within seven days of the certification election.
(f) A labor organization which has been a contending party in the election may appeal the results
of the certification election to the Court if it alleges any of the rules and regulations established by
the Court for the conduct of the election have been violated.
Section 13. Duty to Bargain Collectively. - In the absence of an agreement or other voluntary
arrangement providing for a more expeditious manner of collective bargaining, it shall be the duty
of an employer and the representative of his employees to bargain collectively in accordance with
the provisions of this Act. Such duty to bargain collectively means the performance of the mutual
obligation to meet and confer promptly and expeditiously and in good faith, for the purpose of
negotiating an agreement with respect to wages, hours, and/or other terms and conditions of
employment, and of executing a written contract incorporating such agreement if requested by
either party, or for the purpose of adjusting any grievances or question arising under such
agreement, but such duty does not compel any party to agree to a proposal or to make concession.
Where there is in effect a collective bargaining agreement, the duty to bargain collectively shall
also mean that neither party shall terminate or modify such agreement, unless it has served a
written notice upon the other party of the proposed termination or modification at least thirty days
prior to the expiration date of the agreement, or in the absence of an express provision concerning
the period of validity of such agreement prior to the time it is intended to have such termination or
modification take effect. It shall be the duty of both parties, without resorting to a strike or lockout,
to continue in full force and effect all the terms and conditions of the existing agreement during the
said period of thirty days.
Section 14. Procedure of Collective Bargaining. -
(a) Whenever a party desires to negotiate an agreement, it shall serve a written notice upon the
other party, with a statement of its proposals. The other party shall make a reply thereto not later
than ten days from receipt of such proposals.
(b) In case differences shall arise on the basis of such proposals and reply, either party may
request a conference which shall begin not later than ten days from the making of such request.
Both parties shall endeavor in such conference to settle the dispute amicably and expeditiously.
(c) If the dispute is not settled by conference and the Conciliation Service of the Department of
Labor intervenes in the dispute, it shall be the duty of each party to participate fully and promptly
in such meetings and conferences as the Service may undertake.
(d) Before an employer may lockout his employees or the employees may strike, either party as
the case may be, must file with the Conciliation Service thirty days prior thereto a notice of their
intention to strike or lockout the employees. Such notice shall be in a form to be prescribed by the
Chief of the Conciliation Service.
Section 15. Violation of Duty to Bargain Collectively. - It shall be unlawful for any employer to
refuse to bargain collectively with the representative of his employees, or to declare a lockout
without having first bargained collectively with the representative of his employees, in accordance
with the provisions of this Act. Any employee whose work has stopped as a consequence of such
lockout shall be entitled to back-pay.
The refusal of a labor organization to bargain collectively with an employer or the declaration of a
strike by such organization without having first bargained collectively with an employer pursuant
to this Act, shall be sufficient cause for the Court of Industrial Relations to deny to said union all
rights and privileges under this Act. Any employee who participates in such strike shall lose his
status as an employee for the purposes of this Act.
The declaration of a strike by a labor organization or a lockout by an employer where no previous
notice of a desire to negotiate an agreement has been served upon the other party as provided in
Section 14, shall be deemed prima facie evidence of a violation of the duty to bargain collectively.
Section 16. Administration of Agreement and Handling of Grievances. - The parties to
collective bargaining shall endeavor to include in their agreement provisions to insure mutual
8
observance of the terms and stipulations of the agreement and to establish machinery for the
adjustment of grievances, including any question that may arise from the application or
interpretation of the agreement or from day-to-day relationships in the establishment.
Section 17. Rights and Conditions of Membership in Labor Organizations. - It is hereby
declared to be the public policy of the Philippines to encourage the following internal labor
organization procedures. A minimum of ten percent of the members of a labor organization may
report an alleged violation of these procedures in their labor organization to the Court. If the Court
finds, upon investigation, evidence to substantiate the alleged violation and that efforts to correct
the alleged violation through the procedures provided by the labor organization's constitution or
by-laws have been exhausted, the Court shall dispose of the complaint as in "unfair labor practice"
cases.
(a) Arbitrary or excessive initiation fees shall not be required of the members of a legitimate labor
organization nor shall arbitrary, excessive or oppressive fines and forfeitures be imposed.
(b) The members shall be entitled to full and detailed reports from their officers and representatives
of all financial transactions as provided in the constitution and by-laws of the organization.
(c) They shall also have the right to elect officers by secret ballot at intervals of not more than two
years and to determine and vote upon the question of striking or not striking or upon any other
question of major policy affecting the entire membership of the organization.
(d) No labor organization shall knowingly admit as member or continue in membership therein any
individual who belongs to any subversive organization or who is engaged directly or indirectly in
any subversive activity or movement.
(e) No person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall be eligible for
election to any office in a legitimate labor organization or for appointment to any position involving
the collection, custody, management, control, or disbursement of its funds, and any such person
shall be disqualified from continuing to hold any office or such position in the organization.
Within sixty days of the election of the officers of a legitimate labor organization, the secretary or
other responsible officer thereof shall furnish the Secretary of Labor with a list of the newly-elected
officers and the appointive officers or agents of the organization who are entrusted within the
collection, custody, management, control or disbursement of its funds. Any change in such list
shall be reported within this period.
(f) No officer, agent or member of a legitimate labor organization shall collect any fees, dues, or
other contributions in behalf of the organization or make any disbursement of its money or funds
unless he is provided with the necessary authority pursuant to its constitution or by-laws.
(g) Every payment of fees, dues, or other contributions by a member shall be evidenced by a
receipt signed by the officer or agent making the collection and entered upon the record of the
organization to be kept and maintained for that purpose.
(h) The funds of the organization shall not be applied for any purpose or object other than those
expressly stated in its constitution or by-laws or those expressly authorized by a resolution of the
majority of the members.
(i) Every expenditure of the funds of the organization shall be evidenced by a receipt from the
person to whom the payment was made, which shall state the date, place and purpose of such
payment. Such receipts shall form part of the financial records of the organization.
(j) The officers of a legitimate labor organization shall not be paid any other compensation, in
addition to the salaries and expenses for their positions which shall be specifically provided for in
its constitution or by-laws, except in pursuance of a resolution approved in a meeting by a majority
vote.
(k) The treasurer of a legitimate labor organization and every officer thereof who is responsible for
the accounts of such organization or for the collection, disbursement, custody or control of the
funds, moneys and other properties of the organization, shall render to the organization and to its
members at the times specified hereunder, a true and correct account of all moneys received and
paid by him since he assumed office or since the last date on which he rendered such account
and of the balance remaining in his hands at the time of rendering such account, and of all bonds,
securities, and other properties of the organization entrusted to his custody or under his control.
The rendering of such account shall be made -
(1) at least once a year within thirty days of the close of its fiscal year;
(2) at such other times as may be required by a resolution of the majority of the members of the
organization; and
(3) upon vacating his office.
The account shall be verified by affidavit and copy thereof shall be furnished the Secretary of
Labor. The organization shall cause such account to be audited by a qualified person.
(l) The books of accounts and other records of the financial activities of a legitimate labor
organization shall be open to inspection by any officer or member thereof.
Section 18. Conciliation Service. - There shall be appointed, in addition to the existing personnel
of the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor, such number of conciliators, examiners,
and other assistants as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section and as may
hereafter be provided in this Act or may hereafter be provided by law.
It shall be the duty of the Service, in order to prevent or minimize labor disputes, to assist parties
to labor disputes in settling such disputes through conciliation and mediation.
The Service may proffer its services in any labor dispute in any industry either upon its own motion
or upon the request of one or more of the parties to the dispute.
If the Service is not able to bring the parties to agreement by conciliation within a reasonable time,
it shall seek to induce the parties voluntarily to seek other means of settling the dispute without
resort to strike, lockout, or other coercion, including submission to the employees in the bargaining
unit of the employer's last offer of settlement for approval or rejection in a secret ballot.
Section 19. Compilation of Collective Bargaining Agreements. - For the information and
guidance of all interested representatives of employers and legitimate labor organizations, the
Conciliation Service in the Department of Labor shall maintain a file of all available collective
bargaining agreements and other available agreements settling or adjusting industrial disputes,
and of copies of the orders, awards, and decisions of the Court of Industrial Relations and the
Supreme Court in cases of industrial disputes. Such file shall be open to inspection under
appropriate conditions prescribed by the Secretary of Labor, except that no specific information
submitted in confidence shall be disclosed.
Section 20. Labor-Management Conferences. - The President of the Philippines may, from time
to time, upon his own motion or upon recommendation of the Secretary of Labor, call a national
conference of representatives of employers and of labor organizations for the consideration and
adoption of voluntary codes of principle in regard to labor-management relations designed to
prevent or minimize industrial disputes particularly those affecting the general welfare.
The Secretary of Labor is also authorized to call from time to time a conference of representatives
of employers and labor organizations in any industry or region for the same purpose.
In recommending a national labor-management conference or in calling an industrial or regional
labor-management conference, the Secretary of Labor is directed to act in consultation with
representatives of employers and labor organizations concerned.
The purpose of this section is to establish a positive philosophy in the governmental approach to
the problem of industrial relations that will lend the whole force of its influence in encouraging the
development of sound economic and social practices, and, at the same time, to recognize that
real industrial peace can not be achieved by compulsion of law. Sound and stable industrial
relations must rest, in keeping with the spirit of our democratic institutions, on an essentially
voluntary basis.
Section 21. Advisory Labor-Management Council. - There is hereby established in the
Department of Labor an advisory Labor-Management Council which shall be composed of a
member representing the public, who shall act as chairman, and an equal number of
representatives selected from among persons outstanding in the field of management and of
representatives selected from among persons outstanding in the filed of labor.
It shall be the duty of the Council, at the request of the Secretary of Labor, to advise in the
avoidance of industrial disputes and the manner in which medication and voluntary adjustment of
such disputes shall be administered.
9
Section 22. Study of Industrial Relations. - The Secretary of Labor shall have power and it shall
be his duty to inquire into -
(a) The existing relations between employer and employees in the Philippines;
(b) the growth of associations of employees and the effect of such associations upon employer-
employee relationships;
(c) the extent and results of the methods of collective bargaining in the determination of terms and
conditions of employment;
(d) the methods which have been tried by employers and associations of employees for
maintaining mutually satisfactory relations;
(e) desirable industrial practices which have been developed through collective bargaining and
other voluntary arrangements;
(f) the possible ways of increasing the usefulness and efficiency of collective bargaining for settling
differences;
(g) the possibilities for the adoption of practical and effective methods of labor-management
cooperation; and
(h) any other aspect of employer-employee relationship which relates to the promotion of harmony
and understanding between the parties.
The Secretary of Labor shall also inquire into the causes of industrial unrest and take all necessary
means within his power as may be prescribed by law to alleviate the same, and shall from time to
time recommend the enactment of such remedial legislation as in his judgment may be desirable
for the maintenance and promotion of industrial peace.
Section 23. Registration of Labor Organizations. -
(a) There shall be in the Department of Labor a Registrar of Labor Organizations (hereinafter
referred to as the Registrar).
It shall be the duty of the Register to act as the representative of the Secretary of Labor in any
proceeding under this Act upon any question of the association or representation of employees,
to keep and maintain a registry of legitimate labor organizations and of their branches of locals,
and to perform such other functions as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
(b) Any labor organization, association or union of workers duly organized for the material,
intellectual and moral well-being of its members shall acquire legal personality and be entitled to
all the rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor organizations within thirty days of
filing with the office of the Secretary of Labor notice of its due organization and existence and the
following documents, together with the amount of five pesos as registration fee, except as provided
in paragraph "d" of this section:
(1) A copy of the constitution and by-laws of the organization together with a list of all officers of
the association, their addresses and the address of the principal office of the organization;
(2) A sworn statement of all officers of the said organization, association or union to the effect that
they are not members of the Communist Party and that they are not members of any organizations
which teaches the overthrow of the Government by force or by any illegal or unconstitutional
method; and
(3) If the applicant organization has been in existence for one or more years, a copy of its last
annual financial report.
(c) If in the opinion of the Department of Labor the applicant organization does not appear to meet
the requirements of this Act for registration, the Department shall, after ten days' notice to the
applicant organization, association or union, and within thirty days of receipt of the above-
mentioned documents, hold a public hearing in the province in which the principal office of the
applicant is located at which the applicant organization shall have the right to be represented by
attorney and to cross-examine witnesses; and such hearing shall be concluded and a decision
announced by the Department within thirty days after the announcement of said hearing; and if
after due hearing the Department rules against registration of the applicant, it shall be required
that the Department of Labor state specifically what data the applicant has failed to submit as a
prerequisite of registration. If the applicant is still denied, it thereafter shall have the right within
sixty days of formal denial of registration to appeal to the Court of Appeals, which shall render a
decision within thirty days, or to the Supreme Court.
(d) The registration and permit of a legitimate labor organization shall be cancelled by the
Department of Labor, if the Department has reason to believe that the labor organization no longer
meets one or more of the requirements of paragraph (b) above; or fails to file with the Department
of Labor either its financial report within sixty days of the end of its fiscal year or the names of its
new officers along with their non-subversive affidavits as outlined in paragraph (b) above within
sixty days of their election; however, the Department of Labor shall not order the cancellation of
the registration and permit without due notice and hearing, as provided under paragraph (c) above,
and the affected labor organization shall have the same right of appeal to the courts as previously
provided.
The Department of Labor shall automatically cancel or refuse registration and permit to the labor
organization or the unit of a labor organization finally declared under sections five and six of this
Act to be a company union as defined by this Act. The restoration or granting of registration and
permit shall take place only after the labor organization petitions the Court and the Court declares
(1) that full remedial action has been taken and (2) sufficient time has elapsed to counteract the
unfair labor practice which resulted in the company union status.
(e) Provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred and thirteen providing for
registration, licensing, and cancellation of registration of organizations, associations or unions of
labor, as qualified and expanded by the preceding paragraphs of this Act, are hereby amended.
Section 24. Rights of Labor Organizations. - A legitimate labor organization shall have the right
(a) To act as the representative of its members for the purpose of collective bargaining, pursuant
to section three of this Act;
(b) To be certified as the exclusive representative of the employees in a collective bargaining unit,
as provided in section twelve (a);
(c) To own property, real or personal, for the use and benefit of such labor organization and of its
members; and
(d) To bring and defend actions in its registered name relating to such property.
No suit, action or other proceeding shall be maintainable in any court against a labor organization
or any officer or member thereof for any act done by or on behalf of such organization in
furtherance of an industrial dispute to which it is a party, on the ground only that such act induces
some other person to break a contract of employment or that it is in restraint of trade or interferes
with the trade, business or employment of some other person or with the right of some other
person to dispose of his capital or labor.
Section 25. Penalties. - Any person who violates the provisions of section three of this Act shall
be punished by a fine of not less that one hundred pesos nor more than one thousand pesos, or
by imprisonment of not less than one month nor more than one year, or by both such fine and
imprisonment, in the discretion of the Court.
Any other violation of this Act which is declared unlawful shall be punished by a fine of not less
than fifty pesos nor more than five hundred pesos for each offense.
Section 26. Appropriations. - The sum of two hundred thousand pesos is hereby appropriated
for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and fifty-four to carry out the purposes of this Act and the
same amount is hereby authorized for appropriation in succeeding years.
Section 27. Transitory Provision. - All cases pending before the Court of Industrial Relations at
the time of passage of this Act shall be processed by the Court according to Commonwealth Act
Numbered One hundred three, as amended by the Commonwealth Acts Numbered Two hundred
fifty-four, Three hundred fifty-five and Five hundred fifty-nine but the judges of the Court shall call
both parties to the dispute and make every attempt to help them reach a just and speedy solution
by mutual agreement.
Section 28. Declaration of Invalidity. - If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this Act, or the application of
such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not
be affected thereby.
Section 29. Prior Inconsistent Laws. - All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions
of this Act are hereby repealed.
Section 30. Date of Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect on its approval.
Approved: June 17, 1953
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