Title
Associated Labor Unions vs. Trajano
Case
G.R. No. 77539
Decision Date
Apr 12, 1989
A labor union dispute arose over a certification election during a CBA renegotiation deadlock, with the Supreme Court ruling the election valid despite a new interim CBA.
certification election
bargaining deadlock
valid notice of strike

Case Summary (G.R. No. 77539)

Nature of the Petition and Challenged Orders

The petition sought review of (1) the resolution of the Bureau of Labor Relations dated January 30, 1987, which directed that a certification election be conducted within twenty (20) days from receipt of the resolution and identified the options as ADLO, ALU, and No Union; and (2) the subsequent order dated February 24, 1987 dismissing petitioner’s motion for reconsideration for lack of merit. The Bureau’s earlier action had affirmed the propriety of the petition for certification election, and the Med-Arbiter had set the election for March 17, 1987.

Undisputed Factual Background: The CBA, Deadlock, and Competing Petitions

Petitioner had been the recognized collective bargaining representative of all the rank-and-file employees of respondent company under a CBA effective from January 1, 1984 to December 31, 1986. Under Article XX of the CBA, the parties were required to renegotiate a new agreement within sixty (60) days before expiration. On October 22, 1986, a major segment of the covered employees petitioned for renewal of the expiring agreement, and petitioner and respondent company agreed to negotiate. The parties later failed to reach an acceptable agreement, and bargaining deadlock was declared.

On November 3, 1986, petitioner filed a notice of strike. Unable to arrive at an agreement during the conciliation that followed the filing of the notice, petitioner proceeded to strike on December 1, 1986. While these events unfolded, ADLO filed with the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Panlalawigang Tanggapan ng Paggawa (Bataan Export Processing Zone), a verified petition for certification election among the regular rank-and-file workers of respondent company, docketed as Case No. BZED-CE-11-011-86, on November 4, 1986.

Significantly, on December 4, 1986, petitioner and respondent company reached an agreement and signed a new CBA the same day. The new CBA was ratified by 584 out of 742 covered employees on December 4, 1986. Petitioner registered the new CBA with the Regional Director of the Ministry of Labor and Employment in San Fernando, Pampanga on December 4, 1986, as required under Article 231 of the Labor Code. Petitioner intervened in the certification election proceeding.

Med-Arbiter’s Findings and the Bureau of Labor Relations’ Affirmance

The Med-Arbiter scheduled conferences to determine whether the unions could reach a consent election. Despite conferences, the parties did not agree. On December 10, 1986, the Med-Arbiter ordered a certification election, finding that the petition had satisfactorily complied with the jurisdictional requirements and that it was seasonably filed within the sixty-day freedom period. Petitioner appealed the Med-Arbiter’s decision to the Director of the Bureau of Labor Relations. The appeal was dismissed for lack of merit in the Bureau’s January 30, 1987 resolution, which relied on two principal points: (1) the petition was seasonably filed within the sixty (60) day freedom period; and (2) the petition was supported by two hundred forty-two (242) rank-and-file employees, thus satisfying the statutory thirty percent (30%) requirement.

Petitioner’s subsequent motion for reconsideration was denied in the February 24, 1987 order. The Med-Arbiter thereafter set the certification election for March 17, 1987. Petitioner filed the Supreme Court petition on March 9, 1987 and separately sought an urgent ex parte temporary restraining order, which the Court granted on March 16, 1987 without giving due course to the petition.

Supreme Court Proceedings and Issues Presented

The Office of the Solicitor General filed its comment on June 3, 1987. The Court later gave due course on August 10, 1987 and required simultaneous memoranda. Petitioner filed its memorandum on November 2, 1987. The memoranda and related filings included communications from progressive democratic labor organizations abroad, and the Court took note of those letters as they appeared in the records.

Petitioner raised three issues, substantially arguing that the Bureau allegedly committed grave abuse of discretion by: (1) failing to hold that no certification election may be held because a bargaining deadlock had been submitted to conciliation/arbitration and a valid notice of strike existed; (2) holding that the certification election was not premature despite the bargaining deadlock and the reporting of a new CBA under Article 231 during the pendency of a strike; and (3) holding that the ratified and benefits-enjoyed CBA constituted no bar to a certification election.

The Court’s Core Determination: Mandatory Nature of Certification Election When Requirements Are Met

The Supreme Court held that the petition was devoid of merit and focused on whether the Bureau committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in ordering a certification election. The Court characterized the sole issue as whether, at the time the certification election petition was filed, a bargaining deadlock existed between petitioner and the company such that it had triggered conciliation/arbitration and was accompanied by a notice of strike, with petitioner having actually gone on strike; and further, whether the later execution of a new CBA after the filing of the certification election petition could deprive the Bureau of authority to proceed.

The Court observed that the thirty percent (30%) support requirement under the governing version of Article 258 had been met. It explained that Article 258 then required that a certification election petition be supported by written consent of at least thirty percent (30%) of all employees in the bargaining unit, and that once the Bureau verified the petition’s support, it became mandatory for the Bureau to conduct the election and certify the exclusive bargaining representative.

Citing controlling doctrine, the Court emphasized that the statutory language was imperative. Once verified compliance existed, the Bureau could not ignore the command of the law. It also relied on prior jurisprudence recognizing that certification election conduct becomes obligatory when the 30% requirement is met and the petition is seasonably filed.

Rejection of the “Deadlock and Notice of Strike” Bar Under the Proper Rule Framework

Petitioner insisted that the bargaining deadlock submitted to conciliation/arbitration after a valid notice of strike barred the certification election under the contract bar rule found in Rule V, Book V of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code, specifically Section 3. The Court rejected the argument by clarifying the structure of the rule.

The Court noted that the provision first mentioned applies in the absence of an existing collective bargaining agreement. The case was not covered by that introductory situation because there was already an existing CBA when the certification election petition was filed, with a stipulated expiry on December 31, 1986. Accordingly, the Court treated the second paragraph of the rule as applicable. Under that paragraph, a petition for certification election or a motion for intervention could be entertained only within the sixty (60) days prior to the expiry of the subsisting agreement—what the Court referred to as the freedom period.

Determination That the Petition Was Filed Within the Freedom Period

The Court held that the certification election petition was filed during the sixty-day freedom period, as found by the Bureau. It reasoned that the existence of bargaining deadlock and the fact that petitioner filed a notice of strike did not negate the statutory timetable and procedural requirements for petitions filed in the freedom period.

The Court also addressed petitioner’s point that petitioner had negotiated a new CBA on December 4, 1986 during the freedom period. The Court ruled that such success in negotiating a new CBA did not foreclose a rival union’s right to challenge majority status. It cited the principle that a timely petition for certification election filed before the expiration of the old CBA and before the incumbent union signed a new CBA could proceed, notwithstanding that an interim agreement was later concluded.

Thus, the Court held that employees retained the right to petition for certification election at the proper time, namely within sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the life of a certified CBA, and that this right persisted even if an agreement was signed during the pendency of the representation case. The Court invoked doctrine on the stability of labor-management relations while recognizing that representation contests could be held within the

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