Title
CCBPI Postmix Workers Union vs. National Labor Relations Commission
Case
G.R. No. 114521
Decision Date
Nov 27, 1998
A labor dispute arose when a union staged a strike one day short of the mandatory seven-day ban, deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. Five employees, not union officers, were unjustly dismissed; one was reinstated with back wages.
labor dispute
illegal strike
termination of union officers

Case Summary (G.R. No. 114521)

Factual Background

The CCBPI Postmix Workers Union was the certified bargaining agent for regular office and sales employees of the company’s Postmix Division. Negotiations for renewal of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) failed and the union filed a Notice of Strike with the Department of Labor and Employment on March 9, 1987. The union held a strike vote on April 14, 1987, which resulted in forty votes in favor out of forty-four cast. The union declared a strike on April 20, 1987. The strike lasted about five months and ended with the signing of a renewed CBA on November 27, 1987, which incorporated a Memorandum of Agreement dated September 23, 1987 and amendments dated October 1987.

Initial Proceedings on Strike Legality

The company filed a Petition to Declare the Strike Illegal, alleging nonobservance of the mandatory seven‑day submission requirement under Art. 264(f) and bad faith for failure to exhaust the conciliation period. The Labor Arbiter, after considering the parties’ factual explanations for the April 20 strike, ruled on December 14, 1989 that the union had substantially complied with the seven‑day ban and thus the strike was not illegal. The NLRC later reversed that decision in its Resolution dated December 28, 1993, holding that strict compliance with the seven‑day submission requirement was mandatory and that the strike was illegal because it preceded the seventh day after submission of the strike‑vote results.

Terminations and Administrative Complaints

Following the NLRC Resolution declaring the strike illegal, the company terminated the services of eight employees whom it identified as union officers. The union contested the terminations. It filed evidence, including a certification from the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR), asserting that several of the terminated employees were not union officers at the time of the April 20, 1987 strike. On April 8, 1994 the union lodged a complaint for illegal dismissal with the NLRC against the company on behalf of five terminated employees: Martin Gumarang, Luisito A. Piedad, Edmar L. Basco, Victoriano P. Jumalon, and Juanito F. Dayao.

Labor Arbiter and NLRC Adjudication on Illegal Dismissal

The Labor Arbiter dismissed the illegal dismissal complaint on October 5, 1994, reasoning that the terminated employees were union officers whose participation in an illegal strike rendered them subject to loss of employment. The NLRC initially remanded for further factual determination on who actually participated in the strike, but on reconsideration it reversed the Labor Arbiter and on December 12, 1995 ordered reinstatement with full backwages of the five terminated employees. The company then filed certiorari with the Supreme Court challenging the NLRC ruling for grave abuse of discretion.

Issues Presented

The Court identified three principal issues: (1) whether the strike of April 20, 1987 was illegal for failure to comply with the seven‑day submission requirement of Art. 264(f); (2) whether the employees declared to have lost their employment status were union officers at the time of the strike; and (3) whether the employees were validly dismissed as a consequence of their union membership and mere participation in the strike.

Parties’ Contentions

The union contended that the NLRC acted with grave abuse of discretion when it reversed the Labor Arbiter’s finding of substantial compliance with the seven‑day requirement and declared the strike illegal. The union relied on the conduct and certification surrounding the April 14 strike vote and argued that the strike occurred on the seventh day when time of day was properly computed. The company maintained that the strike began only six days after the submission of the strike vote and that the seven‑day ban was violated. The company also asserted that the terminated employees were union officers, pointing to their alleged admissions and signatures on the CBA, Memorandum and Amendments, and invoked estoppel against employees who purportedly held themselves out as officers. The company further argued that the NLRC erred in accepting the BLR certification as dispositive.

Legal Analysis on the Seven‑Day Strike Ban

The Court reviewed the mandatory character of the cooling‑off period and the seven‑day submission requirement under Art. 264(c) and (f) and Art. 265 of the Labor Code. Citing Gold City Integrated Port Service, Inc. v. NLRC and related precedents, the Court held that both the cooling‑off period and the seven‑day strike‑vote submission are mandatory and that substantial compliance does not suffice. The statutory purpose of those waiting periods was found to be regulatory of the right to strike to permit mediation and to prevent premature work stoppages. Because the strike vote was reported on April 14, 1987 and the strike occurred on April 20, 1987, the Court applied Article 13, Civil Code for period computation—excluding the first day and including the last—and concluded the seventh day fell on April 21, 1987. Thus the April 20 strike preceded the seventh day and was illegal.

Officer‑Member Distinction Under Article 264

The Court examined Art. 264(a) which differentiates the consequences of an unlawful strike for union officers and for ordinary workers. The Court reaffirmed settled doctrine that a union officer who knowingly participates in an illegal strike may be terminated for loss of employment status, while an ordinary worker may not be dismissed for mere participation unless there is clear, substantial and convincing proof that the worker committed illegal acts during the strike. The Court emphasized that a mere finding of the illegality of a strike should not automatically justify wholesale dismissal of strikers.

Evaluation of Evidence on Officer Status

Turning to the five terminated employees, the Court assessed the probative force of the BLR certification, the CBA and associated documents, and testimony. The Court accepted the BLR certification and the documentary record as public records entitled to a presumption of regularity, and held that in the absence of clear and convincing proof that those records were flawed, they must be taken at face value. The Court found that the five terminated employees did not appear in the BLR list of officers for 1986–1989 and that their signatures on the CBA, Memorandum and Amendments did not identify them as union officers. The Court determined that the appearances of signatures in September and October 1987 post‑dated the April 20 strike and established leadership positions only after the strike; thus the signatures did not establish officer status at the

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