G.R. No. 155125 - YSS Employees Union-PTGWO vs. YSS Laboratories, Inc.

Petitioner: YSS Employees Union - Philippine Transport and General Workers Organization (YSSEU), the duly registered labor organization and sole bargaining representative of the rank and file employees of YSS Laboratories, Inc.
Respondent: YSS Laboratories, Inc., a domestic corporation engaged in the pharmaceutical business.

In response to escalating business losses, YSS Laboratories implemented a retrenchment program affecting 11 employees.
Among the 11 employees, nine were officers and members of YSSEU.
The affected employees were evaluated based on work performance, frequency of absences and tardiness, and length of service before being chosen for retrenchment.
Initially offered an early retirement program; upon no uptake, the company proceeded with termination under Article 283 of the Labor Code.

YSSEU claimed discrimination and union-busting in the retrenchment process, alleging that the selection criteria were pretextual.
After a strike vote supervised by the NCMB-NCR, YSSEU staged a strike on 20 April 2001 as a protest against the retrenchment program.
Conciliation proceedings under the supervision of the NCMB-NCR proved fruitless, escalating the dispute.

Citing the national interest and to avert further economic disruption, the Secretary of Labor intervened in the dispute.
On 11 May 2001, the Secretary of Labor issued an Order certifying the labor dispute to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) for compulsory arbitration.

The order directed all striking workers to return to work within twenty-four (24) hours.
It mandated that YSS Laboratories accept them back under the same terms and conditions as before the strike.

On 9 June 2001, following motions by both parties, the Secretary of Labor issued another Order, directing YSS Laboratories to immediately readmit the nine retrenched employees and the nine union officers involved in the strike, or to effect payroll reinstatement.

YSS Laboratories objected to the return-to-work order, arguing that the nine employees who had been lawfully retrenched should be excluded.
The company filed an Urgent Motion for Reconsideration asserting that union officers who participated in the strike had lost their employment status.
YSS Laboratories then petitioned for certiorari before the Court of Appeals under Rule 65 seeking annulment of the Secretary’s certification and return-to-work Orders.
On 26 November 2001, the Court of Appeals reversed the Secretary's Orders, holding that the retrenchment program was valid and that the strike was illegal.
YSSEU’s motion for reconsideration was later denied by the Court of Appeals through a Resolution dated 29 August 2002.

The pivotal issue revolves around whether the retrenched employees should be excluded from the operation of the return-to-work order.
YSSEU maintained that once the labor dispute was certified to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration, all striking workers must be readmitted under the status quo ante.
YSS Laboratories contended that the retrenched employees, having been selected through a process compliant with internal standards, were no longer entitled to reinstatement.

Whether or not the Secretary of Labor gravely abused its discretion in certifying the labor dispute to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration.
Whether or not the retrenched employees should be excluded from the operation of the return-to-work order.