Associated Workers Union vs.

NLRC Facts:

GR no. 87266

July 30, 1990

AWU, the bargaining representative of dockworkers in South Harbor filed a Notice of Strike against Metro, the arrastre contractor in South Harbor due to unfilled vacancies and union busting. One of the AWUs demands was that Metro must terminate the employment of the 11 individual respondents for having organized AWUM, a local chapter of AWU, which Metro initially resisted. AWU had earlier expelled these 11 individual respondents from their membership to AWU for disloyalty and pursuant to closed-shop provision of the existing AWU-Metro CBA, sought termination of employment. Eventually, Metro suspended the said 11 individual respondents as AWU staged a strike against , which consequently urged the respondents to file a complaint against Metro. Metro in turn made AWU a thirdparty complaint against AWU. NLRC ruled that the respondents have the right to organize themselves into a local chapter and it cannot be considered as disloyalty finding that AWU is a national union, hence, their dismissal is illegal. AWU filed petition for Certiorari for the reversal of NLRCs ruling. Issue: Whether or not AWUM may disaffiliate from AWU. Ruling: No. While it is true that AWUM is a local union and is free to serve the interest of all of its members and enjoys the freedom to disaffiliate, such disaffiliation may be exercised and is considered protected labor activity only when permitted by the following circumstances: a. Made during the 60-day freedom period immediately preceding the expiration of CBA b. Made even before the onset of the freedom period (and despite the closed-shop provision in the CBA between the mother union and management) but effected by majority of the members in the bargaining unit In this case, the respondents had not disaffiliated during the freedom period and respondents failed to meet the necessary majority of the members in the bargaining unit as only 11 (the individual respondents) out of 2000 AWU members voted for disaffiliation. Hence, the disaffiliation of AWUM from AWU is not considered a protected labor activity. However, it was held here that the respondents were illegally dismissed due to failure in affording them due process, thus, back wages were awarded to them.