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Submitted by: JOSE, Martin Sean T. (2014-0171-580 Section II-A-2)

Title: DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER AND COLLEGE OF MEDICINE v. HON.

BIENVENIDO E. LAGUESMA (GR No. 102084; August 12, 1998)

Facts:

The employer is a hospital and medical school at Dasmarinas, Cavite and the employee
(Federation of Free Workers-De La Salle University Medical Center and College of Medicine
Supervisory Union Chapter - FFW-DLSUMCCMSUC or union) is a labor organization composed
of the supervisory employees of the employer.

April 17,1991 the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) , a national federation of labor
unions, issued a certificate to recognize the employee (union) as a local chapter and FFW filed
on behalf of the latter a petition for certification election among the supervisory employees of the
employer but it was opposed by the employer because the employees who signed the said
petitioner were managerial employees and the employee (union) was composed of both
supervisory and rank-and-file employees in the company of the employer.

Issue: Were unions formed independently by supervisory and rank-and-file employees of a

company allowed to affiliate with the same national federation?

Law Applicable: Article 245 of the Labor Code of the Philippines

Case History:

July 5, 1991 the Med-Arbiter of the Department of Labor and Employment granted the
employees (union) petitioner for certification election.

August 30, 1991 the respondent Undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment
affirmed the decision of the Med-Arbiter.

September 19, 1991 the respondent Undersecretary of the Department of Labor and
Employment denied the employers motion for reconsideration and affirmed the decision of the
Med-Arbiter of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Ruling:

Yes, the unions formed independently by supervisory and rank-and-file employees of a

company were allowed to affiliate with the same national federation.

The Court ruled that supervisory employees have the right to self-organization as do
other classes of employees except to managerial ones. The 1987 Philippine Constitution
provides that 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.
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The said constitutional provision intends to restore the right to self-organization of the
employees which were withdrawn during the martial law.

The Court ruled that supervisory employees are not allowed to join an organization of
rank-and-file employees but it can join, assist or form separate labor organizations of their own.
The reason is their difference in their interests which will adversely affect discipline, collective
bargaining and strike.

The affiliation of two (2) local unions in a company with the same national federation is
not by itself a negation of their independence since in relation to the employer, the local unions
are the principals while the federation is merely their agent provided that: (1) the rank-and-file
employees are not directly under the authority of supervisory employees and (2) the national
federation is not actively in union activities in the company.

In the present case, the employee (union) and another union composed of rank-and-file
employees of the employer are affiliated with the same national federation but it was not proven
by the employer that the rank-and-file employees composing the other union was directly under
the authority of the supervisory employees.

Opinion:

With all due respect to this Honorable Court, I would like to say that this decision helped
us in analyzing situations on whether the local union of supervisory employees and local union
of the rank-and-file employees can join the same national federation.

Title: Laguna College v. Court of Industrial Relations (GR No. L-28297; September 25, 1968)
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Facts:

October 20, 1967 the employer (Laguna College) filed a petition for certification
election before the respondent court to determine whether the Laguna College Teachers
Association (LACTA) or any other labor organization is the true and voluntary choice of the
majority of the teachers working in the establishment of the employer and as the sole exclusive
bargaining representative.

Issue: Who determines which group or category of employees is the appropriate bargaining
unit?

Law Applicable: Labor Code of the Philippines

Case History:

March 11, 1968 the Trial Judge Paredes granted the request for certification election and
declared that the appropriate collective bargaining unit is the employer unit comprising of all
teachers of the employer.

Ruling:

The employees determine which group or category of employees is the appropriate

bargaining unit. The Globe doctrine deals with the determination of whether a certain group of
category of employees constitutes an appropriate bargaining unit and it states that in
determining the same, the desire or will of the employees is taken into consideration.

In the present case, the employer proposed two separate units (regarding on the
appropriate bargaining unit) which are: (1) college unit composed of professors and instructors
in College and (2) high school unit composed of high school teachers while the employee
(LACTA) proposed only one unit composed of all teachers in the entire Laguna College. The
Supreme Court upheld the employee (LACTA) because to divide the collective bargaining unit
into two would lessen their strength for collective bargaining and which would not be conducive
to industrial peace and the employer would be contending with two (2) different unions vying
against each other for better benefits to gain more members.

Opinion:

With all due respect to this Honorable Court, I would like to say that this decision really
helped the employees in asserting and protecting their right to self-organization from the
employers who want to interfere with the said right.