Consti

Art. II

9 The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and
independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide
adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an
improved quality of life for all.
10 The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.
11 The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human
rights.
13 The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and
protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in
the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic
affairs.
14 The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental
equality before the law of women and men.
18 The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers
and promote their welfare.
20 The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private
enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments.

Art. III

1 No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall
any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
4 No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or the press, or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of
grievances.
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.
10 No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
16 All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasi-
judicial, or administrative bodies.
18(2) No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted.

Art. XIII (13) – Social Justice and Human Rights

1 The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and
enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political
inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power
for the common good.

To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of
property and its increments.
2 The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic
opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
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 share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable
returns on investments, and to expansion and growth.
13 The State shall establish a special agency for disabled persons for their rehabilitation, self-
development and self-reliance, and their integration into the mainstream of society.
14 The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions,
taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will
enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the
nation.
Labor Code

3 Declaration of Basic Policy – The State shall afford protection to labor, promote full
employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race or creed and regulate
the relations between workers and employers. The State shall assure the rights of workers to
self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of
work.
4 Construction in favor of labor – all doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in
favor of labor.
218 Labor Relations

Declaration of Policy – A. It is the policy of the State:

a. To promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations,
including voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of settling labor
or industrial disputes;
b. To promote free trade unionism as an instrument for the enhancement of democracy
and the promotion of social justice and development;
c. To foster the free and voluntary organization of a strong and united labor movement;
d. To promote the enlightenment of workers concerning their rights and obligations as
union members and as employees;
e. To provide and adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of
labor or industrial disputes;
f. To ensure a stable but dynamic and just industrial peace
g. To ensure the participation of workers in decision and policy-making processes
affecting their rights, duties and welfare.
B. To encourage a truly democratic method of regulating the relations between the employers
and employees by means of agreements freely entered into through collective bargaining, no
court or administrative agency or official shall have the power to set or fix wages, rates of pay,
hours of work or other terms and conditions of employment, except as otherwise provided
under this Code.
290 Haba eh

SELF-ORGANIZATION

Concept and Scope

Art. 253. 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. 257. Non-abridgment of Right to Self-Organization. – It shall be unlawful for nay person to restrain,
coerce, discriminate against or unduly interfere with employees and workers in their exercise of the right
to self-organization. Such right shall include the right to form, join or assist labor organizations for the
purpose of collective bargaining through representatives of their own choosing and to engage in lawful
concerted activities for the same purpose for their mutual aid and protection, subject to the provisions of
Art. 264 of this Code.

Art. 292 Miscellaneous provisions - (c) any employee, whether employed for a definite period or not, shall,
beginning on his first day of service, be considered as an employee for purposes of membership in any
labor union.

Art. 219. Definitions.

e. Employer – includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. The term
shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or agents except when acting as employer.

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.

Labor Orgs and Registration of Unions

Holy Child Catholic School v. HCCS-TELU-PIGLAS (2013)

Facts:

 A petition for certification election was filed by private respondent Pinag-Isang Tinig at Lakas ng
Anakpawis – Holy Child Catholic School Teachers and Employees Labor Union (HCCS-TELU-
PIGLAS).
 It alleged that:
o PIGLAS is a legitimate labor organization duly registered with the Department
representing HCCS-TELU-PIGLAS
o HCCS is a private educational institution
o There were approx. 120 teachers and employees comprising the proposed bargaining unit
o And HCCS is unorganized, there is no CBA or certified bargaining agent or a LO certified
as SEBA within 1 year prior to the filing of the petition.
 Among the documents attached to the petition were the:
o certificate of affiliation with Pinag-Isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis Kristiyanong Alyansa
ng Makabayang Obrero (PIGLAS-KAMAO) issued by the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR)
o charter certificate issued by PIGLAS-KAMAO, and
o certificate of registration of HCCS-TELU as a legitimate labor organization issued by the
DOLE.
 HCCS consistently noted that members of the HCCS-TELU-PIGLAS do no belong to the same class;
not only a mix of managerial, supervisory and rank-and-file but also a combination of teaching
and non-teaching personnel.
o It claimed that respondent was an illegitimate LO lacking in personality to file a petition
for petition for CE
o And an inappropriate bargaining unit for want of community or mutuality of interest.
 Private respondent pointed out that questions pertaining to qualifications of employees may be
threshed out in the inclusion-exclusion proceedings prior to the conduct of the certification
election.
  To back up the formation of a single employer unit, private respondent asserted that even if the
teachers may receive additional pay for an advisory class and for holding additional loads,
petitioner’s academic and non-academic personnel have similar working conditions.
 Med-Arbiter denied the petition for CE on the ground that the unit which HCCS-TELU-PIGLAS
sought to represent is inappropriate.
 Respondent appealed before the SOLE, who ruled against the dismissal of the petition and
directed the conduct of two separate certification elections for the teaching and the non-teaching
personnel.
o “inappropriateness of the bargaining unit sought to be represented is not a ground for
the dismissal of the petition.”
 Since HCCS’ MR was denied, it filed a petition for certiorari with a prayer for TRO & Prelim Inj.
with the CA.
 CA dismissed the petition, stating that there was no commingling of managerial, supervisory, and
rank-and-file as vice-principals, department head, and coordinators are neither supervisory nor
managerial employees.
 HCCS-TELU cites Sec. 9 and 12 of RA 9481 to buttress its contention that HCCS has no standing to
oppose the petition for CE.
o On the basis of the statutory provisions, it reasons that an employer is not a party-in-
interest in a certification election; thus, HCCS does not have the requisite right to protect
even by way of restraining order or injunction.

ISSUES/HELD:

Does RA 9481 apply in this case? – NO but BYSTANDER RULE has been established under Jurisprudence

 RA 9481 took effect only on June 14, 2007; hence, its applicability is limited to labor
representation cases filed on or after said date.
 Instead, the law and rules in force at the time private respondent filed its petition for certification
election on May 31, 2002 are R.A. No. 6715, which amended Book V of Presidential Decree (P.D.)
No. 442 (the Labor Code), as amended, and the Rules and Regulations Implementing R.A. No.
6715, as amended by D.O. No. 9.

So can HCCS question the petition on the basis of the alleged commingling? – NO!

 (IMPT) However, note must be taken that even without the express provision of Section 12 of RA
No. 9481, the “Bystander Rule” is already well entrenched in this jurisdiction.
o A CE is the sole concern of the workers, except when the employer itself has to file the
petition pursuant to Article 259 of the Labor Code, as amended, but even after such filing
its role in the certification process ceases and becomes merely a bystander.
 The employer clearly lacks the personality to dispute the election and has no right to interfere at
all therein.
 This is so since any uncalled-for concern on the part of the employer may give rise to the suspicion
that it is batting for a company union.
 It should be emphasized that the petitions for certification election involved in Toyota and Dunlop
were filed on November 26, 1992 and September 15, 1995, respectively; hence, the 1989 Rules
was applied in both cases.
 But then, on June 21, 1997, the 1989 Amended Omnibus Rules was further amended by
Department Order No. 9, series of 1997 (1997 Amended Omnibus Rules).
o Sec. 2(c) stated that the petition for certification election indicate that the bargaining unit
of rank-and-file employees has not been mingled with supervisory employees - was
removed.
 Following the doctrine laid down in Kawashima and SMCC-Super, it must be stressed that HCCS
cannot collaterally attack the legitimacy of TELU by praying for the dismissal of the petition for
certification election:
o Except when it is requested to bargain collectively, an employer is a mere bystander to
any petition for certification election; such proceeding is non-adversarial and merely
investigative, for the purpose thereof is to determine which organization will represent
the employees in their collective bargaining with the employer.
 (IMPT) The concepts of a union and of a legitimate labor organization are different from, but
related to, the concept of a bargaining unit.
 Article 212(g) of the Labor Code defines a labor organization as "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."
 Upon compliance with all the documentary requirements, the Regional Office or Bureau shall
issue in favor of the applicant labor organization a certificate indicating that it is included in the
roster of legitimate labor organizations.
 Any applicant labor organization shall acquire legal personality and shall be entitled to the rights
and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor organizations upon issuance of the certificate of
registration.
 (IMPT) In case of alleged inclusion of disqualified employees in a union, the proper procedure for
an employer like HCCS is to directly file a petition for cancellation of the union’s certificate of
registration due to misrepresentation, false statement or fraud under the circumstances
enumerated in Article 239 of the Labor Code, as amended.
 TELU, having been validly issued a certificate of registration, should be considered as having
acquired juridical personality which may not be attacked collaterally.
 On the other hand, a bargaining unit has been defined as a "group of employees of a given
employer, comprised of all or less than all of the entire body of employees, which the collective
interests of all the employees, consistent with equity to the employer, indicated to be best suited
to serve reciprocal rights and duties of the parties under the collective bargaining provisions of
the law."
 In determining the proper collective bargaining unit and what unit would be appropriate to be
the collective bargaining agency, several factors should be considered:
o 1) will of employees
o 2) affinity and unity of employees' interest, such as substantial similarity of work and
duties, or similarity of compensation and working conditions
o 3) prior collective bargaining history;
o 4) employment status, such as temporary, seasonal and probationary employees.
 BUT the test of the grouping is community or mutuality of interest, because “the basic test of an
asserted bargaining unit's acceptability is whether or not it is fundamentally the combination
which will best assure to all employees the exercise of their collective bargaining rights."
  UP v. Ferrer-Calleja: A bargaining unit is a group of employees sought to be represented by a
petitioning union.
o Such employees need not be members of a union seeking the conduct of a certification
election.
o A union certified as an exclusive bargaining agent represents not only its members but
also other employees who are not union members.
 The Supreme Court ordered the “non-academic rank-and-file employees of U.P. to constitute a
bargaining unit to the exclusion of the academic employees of the institution”, but did not order
them to organize a separate labor organization.
 The purpose of a certification election is precisely to ascertain the majority of the employees’
choice of an appropriate bargaining unit – to be or not to be represented by a labor organization
and, if in the affirmative case, by which one.
 Petition denied.

LABOR ORGS & REGISTRATION OF UNIONS