LABOR 2: Labor Relations

Atty. Paciano F. Fallar Jr.

Some Notes on
LABOR ORGANIZATIONS

I. Constitutional Basis

The right of employees to organize, including the right to demand collective bargaining, is
enshrined in the Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 8 and Art. XIII Sec.18).

While labor standards and employee termination cases frequently cite Art. 4 of the Labor Code
("all doubts should be rosolved in favor of labor), labor relations cases cite the constitutional right
to organize when they rule in favor of labor.

II. Kinds of labor organizations.

A labor or employee organization need not be registered with the DOLE for it to be a 'legal'
organization. Registration however vests a labor organization with legal personality, allowing it
to exercise such rights as:

 the right to sue and be sued

 the right to own property
 the right to represent its members in legal cases
 the right to demand collective bargaining (provided it is accorded the status of a certified
bargaining agent in a certification or consent election)
 the right to strike
 right to collect dues from its members

A registered labor organization is said to be a "legitimate labor organization" . Non-registration

however does not connote "illegality". It merely means that an unregistered labor organization
has no legal personality and can not exercise legal rights on its own.

A labor organization need not be a "union", defined as an employee organization created with
the purpose of seeking collective bargaining with an employer regarding terms and conditions of
employment. However, only a union certified as a collective bargaining agent has the right to
demand collective bargaining. Such demand must be met by the employer.

A 'workers association" is organized for the purpose of mutual help and protection of its
members. It is not prohibited from negotiating with employers on terms and conditions of
employment. But since it does not have such right ( to demand collective bargaining) , an
employer is not legally obliged to negotiate with it. It cannot also file a petition for certification
election, or participate as a contending labor organization. Since a workers association purpose
does not include collective bargaining, its members need not be employed by the same
employer.( Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Hanjin Shipyard vs BLR and Hanjin Heavy Industries -
GR No. 21145, 14 October 2015 )

.A workers' association can represent its members in a labor suit against its employer , even if
the employer is a cooperative (Nueva Ecija Coop Employees Assn.vs NLRC, GR No. 116066, 24 Jan
2000). This gives the lie to the theory that an employee who is a member of the cooperative can
not negotiate with himself, since a labor dispute is subject to mandatory conciliation/mediation
and compromise ( a process which includes negotiation) is encouraged by the Labor Code .

III. Types of Unions

A local union is one which operates at the enterprise level. A federation or national union
operates on nationwide level, and must have as members at least 10 registered local unions that
are certified bargaining agents..

An independent union is one which has its own registration with the DOLE.

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In contrast, a chartered local derives its registration from the charter certificate issued by the
federation. Chartering has been allowed by the DOLE, to encourage unionization. Charterting has
less stringent requirements (e.g., no need for 20% minimum membership). A chartered local may
nonetheless subsequenlty secure its own DOLE registration . The relationship between a
federation and the local union is generally understood to be that of agency, with the local as the
principal and the federation as the agent.

An independent union may affiliate itself with a federation, without losing its own legal personality
(Adamson & Adamson vs CIR, GR No. L-35120, 31 Janaury 1984) . It may also disaffiliate from a
federation (Volskschel Labor Union vs BLRC, GR No. L-45824, 19 June 1985). Both acts are justified
as consistent with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of association. The local union remains
the basic unit of association.

Disaffiliation from a federation must comply with the terms of affiliation, which may include
majority voting and a restrictive period (eg, only within th last 60 days of the term of the collective
bargaining agreement) . A valid disaffiliation by an independent union does not affect its legal
personality. But a mere chartered local which disaffiliates loses its legal personality, and could
not file a petition for certification election ( Villar vs Inciong, GR No. L-50283, 20 April 1983).

A federation may also divest a chartered local of its charter certificate which, if the revocation is
valid and complies with the terms of the affiliaton, divests the local chapter of its legal personality.

IV. Union Registration

An application for union registration is filed with the Regional Office of the DOLE where the
applicant principally operates. A denial of the application may be appealed with the Bureau of Labor
Relations.

The list of requirements includes: a) names of its members comprising at least 20% of the
employees in the bargaining unit ; b) minutes of the organizational meeting and the list of
employees who attended such meeting; constitution and by laws; and, minutes of the adoption
and ratification of the constitution and by laws, and list of members who participated in the
ratification.

The 20% requirement refers to the list of union members in the bargaining unit, not to the
attendees in the organizational meeting ( Takata Phil vs BLR, GR No. 196276, 04 July 2014). There is
no statutory minimum set for the number of attendees in the organizational meeting. The numbers
in the membership list and the attendees in the organizational meeting need not match.

The duty of the Regional Office/BLR in union registation is not ministerial. It is bound to
examine the sufficiency and truthfulness of the submitted documents , and thye must be satified
that they comply with the statutory requirements ( SS Ventures International vs SSVLU, GR No.
161690,23 July 2008). Should there be indications of serious irregularities like falsification and
misrepresentation, an applicant should be denied union registration. But once an application is
approved, the issuance of Certificate of Registration implies that the application and the suppoting
documents are prima facie free from vitiating irregularities.

For this reason, the rule has been enunciated that: For fraud and misrepresentation to be
gorunds for cancellation of union registration, the narture of the fraud and
misrepresentation must be grave and compelling enough to vitiate the consent of a majoriity
of union members ( SS Ventures International vs SSVLU, GR No. 161690,23 July 2008; Takata Phil
vs BLR, GR No. 196276, 04 July 2014).

V. Cancellation of Union Registration

The registration of a union is not subject to collateral attack. It could only be allowed in a
petition for cancellation of registration and not as an incidental issue in other labor proceedings
such as a petition for certification election ( Legend Integrated Resort vs Kilusang Mangagawa sa
Legend- Independent ( GR No. 169754, 23 February 2011).

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The cancellation of a union's registration is the equivalent of the snuffing out its life as a legitimate
organization.Without its registration , the union loses its legal personality. Thus, cancellation of
union registration proceedings must comply with the requirements of due process. In this
case, the registration of a union was cancelled without the Regional Director ruing on the
admissibiity of the exhibits submitted by the petitioner (and opposed by the respondent union),
and without setting the case for the presentation of respondent union's evidence. Not only was
respondent union deprived of due process; the decision cancelling the registration has no
absolutely nothing to support it. It is a nullity. ( Alliance of Democratic Free Labor Organizations vs
Laguesma , GR No. 108625, 11 March 1996).

Art.247 (239) of the Labor Code provides the grounds for cancellation of union registation:

:
 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 dissolution by the members

In addition, any violation of Art. 250 (Right & Conditions of Membership in a Labor
Organization) of the Labr Code may be a ground for union cancellation. Lastly, non-compliance
with the reportorial requirements under Rule 5 of D.O. No. 40-03 (S. 2003), which include
annual financial reports, may also constitute ground for cancellation of union registration.

Who may seek cancellation of union registration? Employers have been allowed in practice to
file such petitions. It is not entriely clear if an employer is a party-in-interest in union cancellation
proceedings or if it is, what is the basis for holding so.[ In contrast, an empoyer is considered a
'mere bystander' in certification elections]. With respect to Art. 250, only union members (either
supported by 30% of the membership of or "any member or members specially concerned") may
file cancellation proceedings.

The petition for cancellation against a local union is filed with the DOLE Regional Office where
the union is operating. Cancellation against federations shall be filed with the BLR.

A union's registration certificate carries the presumption of regularity in its application and
supporting documents ( SS Ventures International vs SSVLU, GR No. 161690,23 July 2008). The
charge that a labor organization committed fraud and misrepresentation in securing its
registration is a serious charge and deserves scrutiny. Charges of this nature should be clearly
established by evidence and surrounding circumstances (Heritage Hotel vs PIGLAS-Heritage,
GR No 177024, 30 October 1009).

Thus ,discrepancies in the figures contained in the various supporting documents ( list of
membership; attendance list of organizational meeting) are not indication of fraud or
misrepresentation especially when the discrepancies could be explained. Morever, the law does
not require that the numbers appearing in the supporting documents must completely dovetail. The
discrepancies may also be irrelevant since the 20% membership requirement has been meet.
(Heritage Hotel vs PIGLAS-Heritage, GR No 177024, 30 October 1009). The discrepancies cited are
considered technicalities, which cannot be allowed to frustrate the employees' right to self-
organization.

Likewise, inclusion of disqualifed employeees in the bargaining unit has been ruled not to be
among the grounds for cancelalion of union registration unless such inclusion is due to
misrepresentation , false statement ,or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the
constitution and by laws , minutes of ratification , election of officers, list of voters, etc. (Air
Philippines vs BLR, GR No. 155395, 22 June 2006).

With respect to retractions which may indicate resignation from the union, the same is not
ground for cancellation of registration . The retractions/resignations do not erase the fact that at
the time of the union's application for registration, the affiants were members of the union and
they comprised more than the required 20% membership for purposes of registration as a labor
union. The law merely requires a 20% minimum membership during the application for

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union registration. It does not mandate that a union must maintain the 20% minimum
membership requirement all throughout its existence.(Mariwasa Siam Ceramics vs Secretary
of Labor and Employment, GR No.183317, 21 Dec 2009)

With respect to the continuing requirements for union registration, it has been held that the
cancellation of the union registration should be viewed against the primordial right of the
workers to self-organization, collective bargaining negotiations and peaceful concerted
actions.

"[Articles 238 and 239 of the Labor Code] give the Regional Director ample discretion in dealing with a
petition for cancellation of a union's registration, particularly, determining whether the union still meets the
requirements prescribed by law. It is sufficient to give the Regional Director license to treat the late
filing of required documents as sufficient compliance with the requirements of the law. After all, the
law requires the labor organization to submit the annual financial report and list of members in
order to verify if it is still viable and financially sustainable as an organization so as to protect the
employer and employees from fraudulent or fly-by-night unions. With the submission of the
required documents by respondent, the purpose of the law has been achieved, though belatedly.

We cannot ascribe abuse of discretion to the Regional Director and the DOLE Secretary in denying the
petition for cancellation of respondent's registration. The union members and, in fact, all the employees
belonging to the appropriate bargaining unit should not be deprived of a bargaining agent, merely because
of the negligence of the union officers who were responsible for the submission of the documents to the
BLR".(Heritage Hotel-Manila vs Secretary of Labor & NUHWRAIN-HHMSC.GR No. 172132, 23
July 2014, citingHeratge Hotel vs NUHWRAIN-HHMSC)

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