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3 meanings:
a. Labor management cooperation
b. Labor management committee
c. Labor managemnt commission
-but it really doesn't matter. LMC, we have in mind labor and management and
of necessity, we recall the provisions found in the labor code and rules and
regulations implementing the labor code mandating the department of labor,
specifically the NCMB, to conduct awareness campaigns
Issues in LMCs usually different with what the Union usually deals with:
-in the article, LMCs are allowed to deal with policies of the company as to
solicit proposals from the side of labor to promote the productivity of the
establishment
-in reality, all too often, disagreements arise between ER and union when the
union submits a set of proposals in the course of CB negotiations. The ER would
defer it to another forum, maybe in the LMC. When that happens, the union
does not look to kindly on such move of the employer.
-Unions are not fully aware that they can put up LMCs
-the perception was that the NCMB grabs the business of the Union: delivers a
message that one don't need a union, LMCs are enough. As a result, DOLE's
campaign for LMCs became nill…bumagal. (as featured in Foz's article)
AZUCENA ARTICLE:
-written in the 1980s, at a time when the NCMB was promoting the concept of
LMCs, among others
-highlighted the importance of values: he mentioned the Filipino values of
cooperation vs. confrontation: Filipinos are nonadversarial, as opposed to the
traditional notion of the relationship between management and employees
which is adversarial
FOZ ARTICLE:
-traced the roots of worker's participation in the determination of policy and
decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be
provided by law: from the concon records to congress
-emphasized the fact that, as born out of the deliberations of the Concon, what
they had in mind were processes like the grievance procedure, conciliation,
mediation, voluntary arbitration - all of which are integral parts of the so-called
alternative modes of dispute resolution
-comments on PAL v. NLRC: the court misapplied the constitutional and labor
code provisions on worker's participation.
• Overlooked or ignored Art 255 as to LMCs
• Misread Art 211(d) policy on education and enlightenment of union
members as employees
• LMC's sphere of intervention, in accordance w/ Art255, does not cover
areas covered by the CBA or collective bargaining areas
• The court could have just invoked management prerogatives: so not
try to discuss the consti provision on participation of workers in policy and
decision-making processes?
PAL v. NLRC
SUMMARY: PAL revised its 1966 Code of Discipline in 1985, without sufficient notice to
its employees, thereby subjecting some of its employees to disciplinary measures and
even dismissing some of them. PALEA filed a ULP case before NLRC. LA was for PAL,
though she did not find any ULP or BF bargaining on PAL’s part. NLRC affirmed said
decision. SC upheld the said decisions, saying that PAL should have involved the
employees in the revision of the Code of Discipline as it is not purely management
prerogative, the act involving repercussions to the employees’ security of tenure.
Shared responsibility between management and labor also highlighted as already an
existing state policy even before the amendment of the LC.
-if you were the personnel manager, HR director and you want to change some
policy which would involve the rights and welfare (tardiness, absences…) of the
employees. What steps should you undertake?
• If these would affect the security of tenure of the employees, due
process should be observed
• Even before you start touching any of the provisions, consult with the
union or the employees, make known to them what you desire to achieve,
furnish them copy of the specific changes. Give them then the opportunity
to comment thereon. Here them out. If you were able to resolve it, reach
an agreement, furnish union leadership a copy of the final draft. It is
always safe to post it on the bulletin board for all to see. Give the
employees a certain period of time to comment, to study it. After a lapse of
a reasonable period of time, advise them of the effectivity date of the
changes.
• If the parties are unable to reach an agreement on the proposed
changes, the union will challenge the management to go through
grievance, then voluntary arbitration
When you become lawyers and you handle a case where the employee or union
questions certain rights that, to the thinking of the employer, falls within the
bundle of rights called management prerogative, always invoke the case of SAN
MIGUEL BREWERY SALES FORCE UNION V. OPLE, 170 SCRA 25 (1989):
SUMMARY: PTGWO and SMC entered into a CBA in April 1978 (effective May 1, 1978-
January 31, 1981) which provided that employees would receive an additional
commission based on their respective sales. However, in 1979, SMC adopted the
“Complementary Distribution System” (CDS) wherein beer products were sold directly
to wholesalers, thereby removing any chance for the employees to gain commission.
PTGWO filed a case for ULP. Minister of Labor absolved SMC. SC upheld the CDS, ruling
that it was a valid exercise of management prerogative. Besides, SMC offered to
compensate those who would be affected by paying them “back adjustment
commission”.
-So long as a company's management prerogatives are exercised in good faith for
the advancement of the employer's interest and not for the purpose of defeating or
circumventing the rights of the employees under special laws or under valid
agreements, this Court will uphold them - HIGHLIGHTED BY SIR
-what does CDS mean: where its beer products were offered for sale directly to
wholesalers through SMC offices.
HOW DOES THE LABOR CODE DEFINE A LABOR DISPUTE - MEMORIZE BECAUSE
IT'S USUALLY A BAR QUESTION
LABOR DISPUTE INCLUDES
ANY CONTROVERSY OR MATTER CONCERNING
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OR
THE ASSOCIATION OR REPRESENTATION OF PERSONS
IN NEGOTIATING,
FIXING,
MAINTAINING,
CHANGING OR ARRANGING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
OF EMPLOYMENT,
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE DISPUTANTS STAND IN THE
PROXIMATE RELATION OF EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
SMC Employees Union vs. Bersamira, 186 SCRA 496 (1990)
SUMMARY: RTC issued Writ of Preliminary Injunction, on the assumption that it had
jurisdiction over the dispute between SMC and the Union, there being no EER. Court
held that even if there is no EER, there can still be a labor dispute.
(note: Sir must be interested in this case, he wrote "Lipercon" on the board eh -
Later on, we found out that sir handled this case for SMC!)
-break up essential ingredients of a labor arbitration
• Terms and conditions of employement
• THE ASSOCIATION OR REPRESENTATION OF PERSONS
IN NEGOTIATING,
FIXING,
MAINTAINING,
CHANGING OR ARRANGING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF
EMPLOYMENT,
c. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE DISPUTANTS STAND IN THE
PROXIMATE RELATION OF EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
-SC found for the union in this case. How did the supreme court point out the
applicability of Art 212 (l)
-history:
*prior to the promulgation of this San Miguel case, in cases involving
regularization (when the employees seek to be regular employees of the
company), all the ER had to do was to prove that there was no EER,
especially exercise of control over the employees:
1. Power to hire
2. Power to fire
3. Power to control and supervision
4. Power to pay wages
-AL-Lagathan v. PIGAN (1956? Case decided by ROBERTO CONCEPCION): SC
enumerated the attributes of EER (4-pronged test)
-VIANA v. AL-lagathan:
-right after the war, there were many vessels of the navy. There was a
small fishing boat fishing in Manila Bay between Manila and province of
Bataan. US ship rammed through the fishing boat, killing the persons on
the small fishing boat. The issue was who would be liable: the owner of the
fishing boat or wala? Claim was under Workmen's Compensation Act
• Owner of the fishing boat argued that there was no EER
-SC held that the workmen's compensation bureaucrats did not do their
homework. Based on the essential elements of the EER, there was no EER?
-BUT IN THIS CASE, even if SMC was able to convince the regular court that
there was no EER, SC still held that there was a labor dispute even if there was
no EER between the parties, following Art212
Why: the issues raised by the union and the employees were:
• Representation and association
• Terms and conditions of employment
GOLD CITY INTEGRATED PORT SERVICE V. NLRC, 245 SCRA 627 (1995)
SUMMARY: Workers of INPORT staged a strike, filing individual notice of strike w/ MOLE
(which EEs alleged to have been done through fraud on part of the union officers),
expressing grievances regarding wages, 13th month pay, and hazard pay. INPORT
complained that the strike was illegal. NLRC issued TRO, return-to-work order (majority
of workers returned to work). LA declared strike as illegal (failed to comply w/ Art 264-
265,LC). NLRC affirmed w/ modification, characterizing the strike as a “protest action”.
Court held that there was a strike – stemming from a labor dispute – but it was illegal for
not complying w/ the cooling-off period, 7-day strike ban after the strike vote report.
Main issue of the petition for review is actually the separation pay and backwages which
Court recalled the payment of backwages, reduced separation pay.
-A strike, considered as the most effective weapon of labor, is defined as any
temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of employees as a result of an
industrial or labor dispute. A labor dispute includes any controversy or matter
concerning terms or conditions of employment or the association or representation of
persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or arranging the terms and
conditions of employment, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in the
proximate relation of employers and employees.
-Employees stopped working and held the mass action on April 30, 1985 to press for
their wages and other benefits. What transpired then was clearly a strike, for the
cessation of work by concerted action resulted from a labor dispute.
What if you were suspended by the ER w/o any cause, what dispute arises?
-rights dispute because right to due process violated, right to security of tenure