G.R. No. 202131 - ABS-CBN IJM Workers Union vs. ABS-CBN Corporation

ABS-CBN Corporation is a domestic broadcasting company engaged in television and radio content production.
In 2002, ABS-CBN implemented the Internal Job Market (IJM) System, a database listing accredited technical and creative manpower along with their competency ratings and professional rates.
Workers hired through the IJM System, including cameramen, technical directors, editors, and others, became known as IJM workers.

The ABS-CBN IJM Workers Union (AIWU) was formed by the IJM workers and registered with the Department of Labor.
On November 23, 2009, AIWU, through its president, filed a petition before the Bureau of Labor Relations requesting a certification election to represent 1,101 IJM workers.
The petition was supported by 369 signatures, representing 33.51% of the total bargaining unit, and was docketed as NCR-OD-M-0911-006.

ABS-CBN argued in its December 18, 2009 Comment that there was no employer-employee relationship between the IJM workers and itself, emphasizing that it would not participate in the certification election process.
ABS-CBN cited prior National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) decisions in the Payonan and Jalog cases, which found no such employment relationship for part of the petition’s signatories.
The union, however, maintained that its members performed functions necessary to ABS-CBN’s primary business and cited the four-fold test as supporting evidence of an employer-employee relationship.

The Mediator-Arbiter issued an Order on April 14, 2010, denying AIWU’s petition for a certification election on the ground of absent employer-employee relationship.
AIWU appealed this denial, leading to a Decision by DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz on August 13, 2010.

The DOLE Secretary reversed the Mediator-Arbiter’s Order and set aside the prior resolution.
The Secretary ordered the conduct of a certification election among the IJM workers.

ABS-CBN subsequently filed a Motion for Reconsideration, arguing that the DOLE Secretary erred by disregarding the Commission’s prior findings in Payonan and Jalog.
The dispute was further elevated via a petition for certiorari before the Court of Appeals, which at one point granted a Temporary Restraining Order to enjoin the certification election.
On December 1, 2011, the Court of Appeals issued a Decision reversing the DOLE Secretary’s rulings, holding that the question of employer-employee relationship was a factual issue to be decided by the labor arbiter or NLRC.
AIWU then filed a Motion for Reconsideration before the Court of Appeals, emphasizing the power of the DOLE and its Secretary in independently resolving the employment relationship issue.

The core factual dispute centered on whether the functions performed by IJM workers were integral to the ordinary business of ABS-CBN.
Evidence presented highlighted:

Direct hiring and payment practices by ABS-CBN.
Supervision by technical directors and issuance of company identification cards.
The consistent inclusion of IJM workers in organizational structures and benefits systems.

The controlling jurisprudence, notably ABS-CBN v. Nazareno and subsequent cases like Del Rosario, pointed to the similarity of IJM workers’ engagements with regular employment characteristics.

Whether the DOLE Secretary committed grave abuse of discretion in determining the existence of an employer-employee relationship between the IJM workers and ABS-CBN.
Whether the DOLE Secretary committed grave abuse of discretion in granting the petition for a certification election filed by AIWU.