ANTAMOK GOLDFIELDS MINING COMPANY vs. CIR & NATL. LABOR UNION, INC.

G.R. No. L-46892 June 28, 1940

FACTS:
Appellee National Labor Union, Inc., represented the workers and employees of appellant
Antamok Goldfields Mining Company requesting for their claims, some of which were accepted while
some were rejected, after having been addressed in a meeting. The workers and employees staged a
walkout strike which was reported to the Department of Labor for intervention. The parties then amicably
settled upon certain conditions that all laborers will be readmitted and that laborers whose services should
be dispensed with due to lack of work in those tunnels where they are no longer needed will be given not
less than fifteen days employment from the date of the settlement or resumption of work, and provided,
further, that as soon as the stopes in 1360 and 1460 levels are opened and the services of men are needed,
the company will give preference to efficient laborers when reducing the personnel in those working
places and may transfer them to other division to replace inefficient men. The next day, the company’s
management did not allow any worker to enter a certain underground section for safety purposes which
was taken by the workers as refusal to have them work again so they went on strike again which were
resolved.
The Department of Labor endorsed the dispute of the claims to the CIR. Thereafter, National
Labor Union filed a motion alleging that the company dismissed and indefinitely suspends laborers
without just cause but as revenge. The company claimed that the laborers were suspended continuous
loafing and refusal to work, as well as due to the incident where foreman Moldero was attacked. The CIR
found the appellant company’s actions unjustified and ordered it to re-place the workers to their previous
work. The CIR also denied reconsideration hence, the petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court
alleging that Commonwealth Law No. 103, creating CIR, is unconstitutional.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the legal powers granted by Commonwealth Law 103 to CIR are so arbitrary and
unreasonable that they allow deprivation of liberty and property without due process of law and is
therefore, unconstitutional.

RULING:
No. ART. 20 of the CL 103 provides that the Industrial Relations Tribunal shall promulgate its
rules of procedure and shall have the other attributions that generally correspond to a court of law: It
being understood, however , that in the hearing, investigation and resolution of any question or conflict,
and in the exercise of Any of its duties and powers under this Act, the Court shall act in accordance with
the fairness and equity and substantial merits of the case, without regard to technicalities or legal
formulations, and shall not be subject to any rules, Legal proof, but to form judgment in the way it creates
fair and equitable.
A simple reading of this article shows that the law has not empowered the Industrial Relations
Tribunal to investigate and resolve questions and disputes between workers and employers, tenants and
owners in an arbitrary and capricious manner without being subject to a specific rule of conduct. The
article clearly stipulates that the rules of procedure which it adopts, to which the tribunal must conform,
must be guided by justice and equity.
The Constitution was adopted the midst of surging unrest and dissatisfaction resulting from
economic and social distress which was threatening the stability of the world over governments. The
promotion of social justice to insure the well-being and economic security of all people was also
enshrined in the Constitution (Article 5, Art. II, Constitution). For example, section 6 of Articles XIII
declares that the State "shall afford protection to labor, especially to working women and minors, and
shall regulate the relations between landowner and tenant, and between labor and capital in industry and
in agriculture.” The same section also states that "the State may provide for compulsory arbitration."
In conformity With the constitutional objective and cognizant of the historical fact that industrial
and agricultural disputes had given rise to disquietude, bloodshed and revolution in our country, the
National Assembly enacted Commonwealth Act No. 103, Entitled "An Act to Afford protection of labor
by creating a Court of Industrial Relations empowered to fix minimum wages for laborers and maximum
rental to be paid tenants, and to enforce compulsory arbitration between Employers or landlords, and
employees or tenants, respectively, and by prescribing penalties for the violation of the orders ".
Consequently, the Supreme Court denied the petition.