Current Events:

Railway Labor Act:

Manuel O. chan for petitioner.
Ojeda and Vilgera for respondent Association.
Emiliano C. Tabigne for respondent Court.
TUASON, J.:
This is an application for certiorari to review and set aside a portion of the decision of the Court
of Industrial Relations ordering A.L. Ammen Transportation Co., Inc., "to continue its former
practice of allowing check-off to petitioning union whose affiliates have already filed with the
management of the respondent company their corresponding authority to make the necessary
deductions from their monthly earnings."
The facts, not denied, which led to the questioned order are thus stated in respondents' brief:
On September 15, 1950, the Undersecretary of Labor certified to this Court that a labor
dispute exists "Between the Alatco and its workers numbering 308 who are affiliated to
the Bicol Transportation Employees Mutual Aid Association, a legitimate labor
organization duly registered in this department under C.A. No 213". The aforesaid by
certification the Department of Labor was due to its failure to settle amicably the
"Alatco" employees' strike of September 14, 1950 which lasted until September 19, 1950
when the Honorable Presiding Judge of the respondent Court of Industrial Relations
ordered the reopening of the business if the "Alatco" and the return of the employees
involved in the strike effective September 20, 1950, under the same terms and conditions
of employment existing before the strike. In the meantime, the Honorable Presiding
Judge of the respondent Court ordered the "Bitemaa" to submit a more detailed partition
to embody all unsolved disputes not amicably settled in the conciliation proceedings
effected on September 19, 1950; and in compliance therewith a petition dated November
3, 1950, was filed and received by the respondent court on November 9, 1950. After
proper hearing and after considering the parties' evidence on record, the respondent Court
rendered its decision in Case No. 506-V dated April 26, 1951 embodying the disposition
on Demand No. 4 now involved in the present proceedings and quoted in Annex "1" of
respondent court's answer.
Norris LaGuardia Act:
The ground upon which the present petition is based is that the controversy between the
union of the employees formerly working in the two theaters and the new operator of the said
theaters, the respondent Rema, is a labor dispute, and that the respondent court, therefore, did not

have jurisdiction to take cognizance of the same or to issue injunction in the case. The trial judge
held that there was no relation of employee and employer between the petitioning union and the
respondent Rema. This issue has already been passed upon in the case of PAFLU, et al., vs. Tan
and Rema, supra, p. 854. We held in that case, which involved the same parties and the same
dispute exists.
Thus, it was held that The disputants need not stand in relation of employer and
employee for case to involve a labor dispute within Norris-La Guardia Act regulating issuance
of restraining order or injunction in cases involving labor disputes (Green, et al. vs. Obergfell, et
al., 121 F 2d., 46). While, under our own Industrial Peace Act, the term labor dispute includes
any controversy concerning terms, tenure, or conditions of employment, regardless of whether
the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee [Section 2, (j),
Republic Act 872.] In our opinion, considering the equities involved, the relation of petitioners to
respondent comes within the purview of this definition.
Collective Bargaining Agreement:
Workers CBA, productivity bonuses exempted from tax under certain terms
Ben O. de Vera
Tuesday, January 6th, 2015
MANILA, PhilippinesThe government has issued the rules under which workers so-called de
minimis benefits gained from a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with employers as well
as productivity bonuses shall now enjoy tax exemption.
Under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 1-2015 issued by Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares on Jan. 5, now exempt from withholding taxes are
benefits received by an employee by virtue of a CBA and productivity incentive schemes
provided that the total annual monetary value received from both CBA and productivity
incentive schemes do not exceed P10,000 per employee per taxable year.
Also, such cash benefits coming from CBAs as well as productivity incentives will no longer be
subject to fringe benefit tax as long as the amount is not higher than P10,000 per worker per year.
This first RR issued by the BIR in 2015 further amends RRs 2-98 and 3-98, as amended by RRs
5-2008, 5-2011 and 8-2012.
The latest amendment under RR 8-2012 exempted clothing and uniform allowances not
exceeding P5,000 a year from income tax as well as fringe benefit tax.
Last December, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) announced this tax exemption
scheme as a fitting gift to workers during the holiday season.

According to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, this scheme will allow every workertaxpayer to take home up to P104,225 in de minimis benefits each year.
While the government stands to lose about P16.9 billion in revenues from this measure, the
Department of Finance has said this was nonetheless a balanced proposal that augment the
strength of our economy.
We believe that the expansion of tax-exempt de minimis benefits is fairer and more equitable
than other measures of tax relief benefiting only a small percentage of the working population.
This measure directly impacts the working poor and the smallest income earners, who stand to
have the most to gain from these benefits. We came to this agreement after a thorough
consideration: we think this is a win for all Filipinos, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima had
been quoted by Dole as saying.
Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/184524/workers-cba-productivity-bonuses-exemptedfrom-tax-under-certain-terms#ixzz3XwO8idN0
Union:
Call center workers urged to form unions
Nestor Corrales
Tuesday, September 9th, 2014
MANILA, PhilippinesTo protect their welfare as workers and to take advantage of the full
benefits of their labor, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has urged young
professionals particularly workers in the information technology sector to join or form unions.
I encourage yuppies particularly those in call centers to join or create unions so they can have a
voice in their work, said Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor
Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) in a statement.
Through unions, Seno said workers can negotiate a contract like fair and safe workplace, better
wages, a secure retirement or separation pay, family-oriented policies such as paid sick leave and
other benefits.
Because call center workers handle delicate jobs, Seno said they must be compensated
substantially.
Workers in the call center industry are also considered one of the most vulnerable workers
because they work at night when their bodies are supposed to sleep, he said.

Customer service representatives, for example, interact mostly with stressful customers. So they
should get more in terms of wages and benefits because of the precarious characteristics of their
work. They can maximize what they can get through a union. And we have union organizers who
will assist them in every step of the way, he added.
According to him, gone are the days when unions are perceived obstructionist.
Management today should look at forming unions as a way to promote productive workforce
that provides better services and products. They should treat unions as a way of meeting the
needs of their workforce in this modern age of flexible and non-traditional work environments,
he said.
TUCP said there are 1.04 million BPO workers in the Philippines as of September 2014.
Bill filed in Congress
In 2013, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed a Magna Carta for Call Center Workers.
The bill seeks to enforce the rights of call center workers to organize unions to have safe and
healthy working environments given the long hours they spend at their work stations.
Santiago expressed alarm over reports that business process outsourcing (BPO) companies
discouraged labor organizations.
She cited health and occupational safety issues in BPO, adding that the Philippines cannot truly
boast about its BPO industry to the world if it does not comply with the most basic of
international labor standards.

Read more:http://business.inquirer.net/178401/call-center-workers-urged-to-formunions#ixzz3XwOpLq00