Case Digest (G.R. No. L-62037)
Facts:
United CMC Textile Workers Union and Ernesto Tongco, petitioners, filed a petition for certiorari, prohibition, and injunction with prayer for a restraining order (G.R. No. 62037) on October 11, 1982 before the Supreme Court En Banc; Gutierrez, Jr., J., wrote for the Court. The petition assailed three orders of the Minister of Labor and Employment: the August 25, 1982 certification of the dispute at Central Textile Mills for compulsory arbitration; the September 13, 1982 order in which the Minister personally assumed jurisdiction over the deadlock on economic issues; and the October 6, 1982 return-to-work order directing striking workers to resume work and management to accept them under the same terms and to pay accrued allowances. Respondents included Hon. Blas F. Ople (Minister), Hon. Romeo Young (Assistant Director), Max Lim, Central Textile Mills, Inc., George Lim and Cesar Sy.The antecedent events began with a certification-election petition by the Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), docketed in the Med-Arbiter Section (November 6, 1981). A certification election was held March 20, 1982, and the petitioner Union was proclaimed the winner. Negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement deadlocked over economic demands. The Union filed notices of strike with the Bureau of Labor Relations and the National Capital Region; conciliation conferences before labor conciliators and the Ministry failed to settle the deadlock. The Union commenced a strike on August 13, 1982.
On August 13 the employer, Central Textile Mills, Inc., requested Ministerial certification to the National Labor Relations Commission, alleging that the textile industry was in distress and that the strike threatened national interest. After multiple unsuccessful conciliation conferences, the Minister certified the dispute for compulsory arbitration on August 25, 1982 and required return to work and resumption of operations. Petitioners moved for reconsideration; the Minister denied it and on September 13, 1982 personally assumed jurisdiction and ordered payment of accrued cost-of-living allowances. Subsequent efforts at reconciliation failed and on October 6, 1982 the Minister issued a final order directing immediate return to work, readmission under pre-strike terms, payment of accrued allowances, injunction against harassment, and authorizing law-enforcement assistance; the order declared itself final and not subject to reconsideration.
The petition reached the Supreme Court by petition for certiorari, prohibition and injunction. At oral argument the Court deferred action on the petition for preliminary inju...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the Minister of Labor and Employment’s certification of the labor dispute and his subsequent assumption of jurisdiction and return-to-work order illegal or void, thereby warranting certiorari, prohibition, and injunctive relief?
- Did the Minister have statutory authority under Article 264(g) of the Labor Code, as amended by B.P. 227, to certify the dispute for compulsory arbitration because the strike adversely affected the national interest (including the classification of Central Te...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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