Case Digest (G.R. No. 155125)
Facts:
YSS Employees Union - Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization v. YSS Laboratories, Inc., G.R. No. 155125, December 04, 2009, Supreme Court Third Division, Chico‑Nazario, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner YSS Employees Union (YSSEU) is the certified bargaining representative of rank-and-file employees of respondent YSS Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical company. YSS Laboratories implemented a retrenchment program to arrest business losses, issuing Notices of Termination on 19 March 2001 and serving them on employees on 20 March 2001; eleven employees were affected, nine of whom were officers or members of YSSEU.Believing the retrenchment to be discriminatory and union-busting, YSSEU conducted a strike that commenced on 20 April 2001 after a supervised strike vote by the National Conciliation Mediation Board — National Capital Region (NCMB‑NCR). Conciliation attempts failed, and on 11 May 2001 the Secretary of Labor issued an order pursuant to Article 263(g) of the Labor Code certifying the dispute to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration and directing all striking workers to return to work under the same terms and conditions prevailing before the strike.
When YSS Laboratories refused to admit all employees covered by the return-to-work directive, contesting especially the inclusion of the nine retrenched employees, YSSEU filed motions seeking contempt and backwages. The Secretary of Labor on 9 June 2001 issued a supplemental Order directing the company to accept back the nine retrenched employees and the nine union officers pending resolution of the underlying disputes, and to effect payroll reinstatement if physical reinstatement proved infeasible.
YSS Laboratories petitioned the Court of Appeals via Rule 65 certiorari to annul both the certification and return‑to‑work orders, alleging grave abuse of discretion and bias; the Court of Appeals, by Decision dated 26 November 2001, granted the petition, set aside the Secretary’s orders, and ruled that the retrenchment was valid and the strike illegal. YSSEU’s motion for reconsideratio...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Secretary of Labor gravely abuse his discretion in certifying the labor dispute to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration and directing a return to work?
- Should the retrenched employees be excluded from the operation of the Secretary’s retu...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)