Case Digest (G.R. No. 206649)
Facts:
Manggagawa ng Komunikasyon sa Pilipinas v. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, G.R. Nos. 190389 and 190390, April 19, 2017, Supreme Court Second Division, Leonen, J., writing for the Court. The petition arises from consolidated appeals from the Court of Appeals' Decision of August 28, 2008 and Resolution of November 24, 2009 in CA-G.R. SP Nos. 94365 and 98975, which affirmed the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and Secretary of Labor dispositions upholding respondent Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Inc. (PLDT)'s 2002 redundancy program and denying relief sought by petitioner labor union Manggagawa ng Komunikasyon sa Pilipinas (MKP).
On June 27, 2002 MKP filed a notice of strike with the NCMB alleging unfair labor practices by PLDT after PLDT announced organizational changes affecting its Provisioning Support Division (PSD) and Operator Services. MKP amended the strike notice twice (docketed NCMB-NCR-NS Nos. 11-405-02 and 11-412-02) and on December 23, 2002 the union proceeded to strike. PLDT declared redundancy effective December 31, 2002: it initially identified 503 affected operator-services positions, was able to redeploy 180 of those, and formally declared 323 employees redundant; MKP later contended that 538 rank-and-file positions were affected (including 35 PSD positions).
On January 2, 2003 the Secretary of Labor and Employment assumed jurisdiction under Article 278(g) and certified the dispute to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration, enjoining the strike but excepting those terminated due to redundancy. MKP sought certiorari relief in the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 76262), and on November 25, 2003 the Court of Appeals set aside the Secretary’s order. PLDT appealed to the Supreme Court (G.R. No. 162783); on July 14, 2005 this Court affirmed the CA and ordered PLDT to readmit all striking workers under prior terms and conditions.
Thereafter the NLRC, in its October 28, 2005 Resolution, dismissed MKP’s unfair labor practice and illegal dismissal charges and sustained PLDT’s redundancy program; the NLRC denied reconsideration on January 31, 2006. MKP filed petitions for certiorari with the Court of Appeals challenging the NLRC resolutions (CA-G.R. SP No. 94365) and the Secretary’s dismissal of the Motion for Execution of this Court’s July 14, 2005 decision (CA-G.R. SP No. 98975). The Court of Appeals consolidated the petitions and, in a Decision of August 28, 2008 (denied on reconsideration November 24, 2009), dismissed the petitions for lack of merit, finding the NLRC had not committed grave abuse of discretion and that the Secretary’s return-to-work order became moot after the NLRC’s ruling.
MKP filed the present Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 contesting (among other points) the sufficiency of PLDT’s proof for declaring redundant the 35 PSD rank-and-file positions, the NLRC’s refusal to admit MKP’s written interrogatories, and the denial of reinstatement pendente lite and/or backwages for the excluded striking workers. PLDT answered, insisting the redundancy findings were supported by su...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals commit grave abuse of discretion in upholding the validity of PLDT’s 2002 redundancy program?
- Was the Secretary of Labor and Employment’s return-to-work order rendered moot when the NLRC upheld the validity of the redundancy program, and are the excluded striking workers entitled to reinstatement ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)