PHI

LCOM EMPLOYEESUNIONvs.PHI
LIPPI
NEGLOBALCOMMUNI
CATI
ONS
andPHI
LCOM CORPORATI
ON

G.
R.No.144315,
Jul
y17,
2006

FACTS:

Upon the expi

rat
ion oft he Collect
ive Bargaining Agr eement( CBA)bet ween pet it
ionerPhi lcom
EmployeesUnion(PEU)andpr i
vat erespondentPhi li
ppineGl obalCommuni cati
ons,Inc.(Philcom)on
June30,1997,t heparti
esst arted negotiat
ionsf ort her enewaloft hei
rCBA i n Jul
y1997.Whi l
e
negoti
ati
onswereongoing,PEUf iledonOct ober21,1997wi t
ht heNati
onalConci l
iat
ionandMedi ation
Board(NCMB)– NCR,aNot iceofSt ri
keduet oper ceivedunf ai
rlaborpr act
icecommi tt
edbyt he
company.Invi
ewofthefil
ingoftheNot i
ceofSt r
ike,thecompanysuspendednegot iati
onsont heCBA.

OnNov ember17,1997,t heuni

onandt hecompanyof fi
cersandr epresentati
vesweremeet i
ng,t he
remaini
ng uni
on off
icer
sand member sst aged a str
ike atthe companypr emises,bar
ricadi
ng t he
entr
ancesandegressest her
eofandsett
ingupast ati
onarypicketatthemai nent r
anceofthebui l
ding.
Thefoll
owingday,t
hecompanyi mmediatelyfi
ledapet i
ti
onfortheSecretaryofLaborandEmpl oyment
toassumejuri
sdi
cti
onov erthel
abordi
sputeinaccordancewithArti
cle263(g)oftheLaborCode.

Consequent
ly,t
heLaborSecret
aryassumedjur
isdi
cti
onovert
hedi spute,enj
oinedanyst
ri
keorl ockout
,
anddir
ectedthest
ri
kingworker
stor et
urnt
owor kwit
hint
wenty-four(24)hoursandformanagementt o
resumenormaloperati
ons.OnNov ember28,1997,asecondr et
urnt oworkor derwasissuedbyt he
same.

Howev er
,bef orethesecondr eturntowor korderwasi ssued,PEUf i
ledaMot ionforReconsiderat
ion
assail
ingt heaut hori
tyoftheLaborSecret
arytoassumej uri
sdict
ionovert
hel abordisput
e.PEUcont ends
thattheSecr etar
yshouldnothav etakencognizanceoftheissueont heall
egedi ll
egalstr
ikebecauseit
wasnotpr operlysubmitt
edtot heSecret
aryforr esol
uti
on.Ther ewasnopet i
ti
ont odeclar
ethesame
i
llegal.Rather ,
whatwer erai
sedwer ethei
ssueoft heall
egedunfairl
aborpracticeofthecompany .

Ontheot herhand,thecompanyarguedt hati

twaspreci
selyduetothestr
ikesuddenl
ystagedbythe
uni
ononNov ember17,1997t hatthedisputewasassumedbyt heLaborSecret
ary.Hence,t
hecase
wouldnecessari
lyi
ncludet
heissueofthelegal
it
yoft
hestri
ke.

TheSecretar
yofLaborinit
st woassai l
edOrder
shadconsi
stent
lyst
atedthatthei
ssueoft
helegal
it
yof
thestr
ikeiswellwi
thi
nthejurisdict
ionofi
tsOffi
ceandthesamewaspr operl
ysubmit
tedandassumed
j
urisdi
cti
onbytheOffi
ceforresoluti
on.

Thecasewasr eferredt
otheCA,wher ei twashel
dthattheSecr
etar
ycouldt
akecogni
zanceofanissue,
evenonlyi
ncidentaltot
helabordispute,pr
ovi
dedtheissuemustbeinv
olv
edinthel
abordisput
eit
selfor
other
wisesubmittedtohimforresolut
ion.

TheCour tofAppealsstat
edthatthereasonoftheSecret
ary'
sassumpt ionofjuri
sdi
cti
onoverthelabor
disput
ewast hestagi
ng ofthestri
ke.Consequentl
y,anyi ssuer egardi
ng thestr
ikeisnotmer ely
i
ncidentaltothelabordi
sputebet
weenPEUandPhi l
com,butal sopartofthelabordi
sputeit
self
.Thus,
theCour tofAppealsheldthati
twaspr operfortheSecret
aryt otakecognizanceoftheissueont he
l
egalit
yoft hestr
ike.
I
SSUE:

WONt
heLaborSecr
etar
ypr
oper
lyt
ookcogni
zanceoft
hel
abordi
sput
e

RULI
NG:

YES.

PEUcont endedthattheSecr etaryshoul

dnothav etakencogni
zanceoft heissueont heallegedi
ll
egal
stri
kebecausei twasnotpr operlysubmitt
edt otheSecretar
yf orresol
uti
on.Itassertedthatonlythe
issuesonunf ai
rlaborpr act
iceandbar gaini
ngdeadl ockshoul
dber esolvedinthepresentcase,notthe
l
egal i
tyofthestr
ike.I
tinsistedt hattoi
ncl
udet heissueonthelegali
tyofthestr
ikedespitei
tsopposit
ion
woul dconver
tthecasei ntoapet i
ti
ontodeclar
et hestri
kei
ll
egal.

Suchcont
ent
ionsar
eunt
enabl
e.

TheSecr et
aryproperl
ytookcognizanceoftheissueont hel egali
tyofthestr
ike.AstheCAcor rectl
y
point
edout,sincetheveryreasonoftheSecr
etar
y'sassumptionofj uri
sdi
cti
onwasPEU' sdecl
arat
ionof
thestri
ke,anyissueregardingthestr
ikei
snotmer elyinci
dent alto,buti
sessenti
all
yinvolv
edin,the
l
abordisputeit
self
.

Ar
ti
cle263(
g)oft
heLaborCodepr
ovi
des:

When,i nhi sopi ni

on,thereexistsal abordisput
ecausingorl i
kelytocauseast r
ikeorl ockouti nan
i
ndust ryindispensablet othenationalinter
est,t
heSecr etaryofLaborandEmpl oy mentmayassume
j
urisdicti
onov erthedi sputeanddeci deitorcerti
fythesamet ot heCommi ssionf orcompul sory
arbit
rati
on.Suchassumpt ionorcer ti
f i
cat
ionshallhav et heeffectofaut omat icall
yenj oini
ngt he
i
ntendedori mpendi ngst r
ikeorlockoutasspeci fi
edint heassumpt ionorcertificati
onor der.Ifone
hasal readyt aken pl
ace att he time ofassumpt i
on orcer ti
fi
cation,al
lst riking orl ocked out
empl oyeesshal limmedi atelyr
eturnt oworkandt heempl oyershallimmediatelyr esumeoper ations
andr eadmi tallworker
sundert hesamet er
msandcondi t
ionsprev ai
lingbef
oret hest ri
keorl ockout .

xxxx.

Thepowersgr antedtotheSecretar
yunderAr ticl
e263oftheLaborCodehav ebeencharacter
izedasan
exerci
seoft hepolicepoweroft heState,withtheaim ofpromot
ingpublicgood.Whent heSecretary
exerci
sesthesepower s,heisgranted"greatbreadt
hofdiscr
eti
on"inordertofi
ndasolutiontoal abor
disput
e.Hence,hehast hepowerofaut omat i
cenjoi
ningofanimpendi
ngstrikeorl
ockoutoritsli
ft
ingif
onehasalreadytakenplace.

Inthis case,t he Secr etaryassumed j urisdict

ion overthe dispute because itfall
si n an i
ndustr
y
i
ndispensablet ot he nat i
onali nter
est.Her einrespondentcompany has been a v i
t alpartoft he
tel
ecommuni cat i
onsi ndustryf or73y ear
s.Itisparti
cularl
ynotedf orit
sexper ti
seanddomi nanceinthe
areaofi nt
ernationaltelecommuni cati
ons.Sur el
y,t
heon-goi ngst ri
kewilladverselyaff
ectnotonl ythe
l
ivel
ihoodofwor kersandt heirdependents,butalsot hecompany '
ssuppliersanddeal ers,bothinthe
publicandprivatesect orswhodependont hecompany 'sfaci
li
ti
esi ntheday -to-dayoper at
ionsofthei
r
businessesandcommer ci
altransacti
ons.
Thus,itisofnomomentt hatPEUnev eracquiescedt othesubmi ssionforr
esolut
ionoft heissueont he
legal
ityofthest ri
ke.PEUcannotpr eventresoluti
onoft helegalityofthestri
kebymer elyrefusingto
submi ttheissuef orresol
ut i
on.Itisalsoimmat eri
althatthisissue,asPEUasser ts,wasnotpr operly
submi tt
edforr esolut
ionoft heSecr et
ary.Theaut horit
yoft heSecr etar
ytoassumej ur
isdicti
onov era
labordisputecausi ngorl ikelytocauseast r
ikeorl ockoutinani ndust
ryindispensabl etonat ional
inter
estincludesandext endst oallquesti
onsandcont r
oversi
esar isi
ngfrom suchl abordi spute.The
poweri splenaryanddi scretionar
yi nnatur
et oenabl ehimt oef fecti
vel
yandef f
icientlydisposeoft he
dispute.