Case Digest (G.R. No. 96635)
Facts:
Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company of Manila, Inc. v. Hon. Bienvenido E. Laguesma, G.R. No. 96635, August 06, 1992, Supreme Court Second Division, Nocon, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company of Manila, Inc. (AG&P) operates fabrication operations through its Steel and Marine Structures Group (SMSG) at its Batangas Marine and Fabrication Yard (BMFY) and supplements its regular workforce by hiring project employees under fixed Project Worker/Reliever Employment Agreements tied to specific projects and limited durations.On June 8, 1990 AG&P executed a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with AG&P United Rank & File Association (URFA) as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of the regular rank-and-file employees; the CBA was registered with the Bureau of Labor Relations on July 9, 1990 (Certificate No. BLR-90-0131). On June 29, 1990 Lakas ng Manggagawa sa AG&P-SMSG–National Federation of Labor (LAKAS‑NFL) filed a Petition for Certification Election with the Med‑Arbitration Unit seeking to be certified as sole and exclusive bargaining agent of the regular non‑project employees at SMSG (about 1,000 employees).
On September 25, 1990 the Med‑Arbiter Tomas F. Falconitin issued an Order directing that a certification election be conducted immediately among the regular project workers of AG&P‑SMSG. AG&P appealed to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on October 11, 1990; on November 22, 1990 Undersecretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma denied the appeal.
Meanwhile, on October 26, 1990 AG&P issued formal regular employment appointments to 691 alleged project employees, effective November 1, 1990, which those employees accepted. On November 28, 1990 project employees not regularized earlier struck, paralyzing operations; a conciliation conference on December 8, 1990 produced an agreement whereby AG&P agreed to regularize all remaining alleged project employees with at least one year of service pending the certification election, and 686 additional employees were regularized effective December 1, 1990. On December 6, 1990 URFA notified AG&P of the admission into URFA of 410 regular project employees regularized effective November 1, 1990. AG&P filed a Motion for Reconsideration on December 6, 1990; Undersecretary Laguesma denied it in an Order dated December 11, 1990.
AG&P then filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition (seeking annulment and prohibition of the DOLE Resolution dated November 22, 1990 and Order dated December 11, 1990, and prayed for issuance of a preliminary injunction/TRO) arguing primarily that the DOLE acted with grave abuse of di...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the DOLE Undersecretary commit grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in ordering a certification election despite the existence of a duly registered collective bargaining agreement (i.e., does the contract‑bar rule under Article 232 of the Labor Code and its IRR bar the election)?
- Did the DOLE Undersecretary commit grave abuse of discretion in failing to consider the supervening fact that the alleged bargaining unit had ceased to exist by virtue of the employ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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