Coastal Subic Bay Terminal v. DOLE, November 20, 2006
G.R No. G.R. No.
157117
Ponente: Quisumbing, J Date: November 20,
2006
Petitioners: Coastal Subic Bay Terminal
Name: Randall
Pabilane
Respondents: Department of Labor and
Employment – Office of the Secretary, Coastal
Subic Bay Terminal, Inc. Supervisory UnionAPSOTEU, and Coastal Subic Bay Terminal, Inc.
Rank-and-File Union-ALU-TUCP
TOPIC: Article 245
Doctrine:
Under Article 245 of the Labor Code, supervisory employees are not eligible for
membership in a labor union of rank-and-file employees. The supervisory employees are
allowed to form their own union but they are not allowed to join the rank-and-file union
because of potential conflicts of interest. Further, to avoid a situation where supervisors would
merge with the rank-and-file or where the supervisors’ labor union would represent conflicting
interests, a local supervisors’ union should not be allowed to affiliate with the national
federation of unions of rank-and-file employees where that federation actively participates in
the union activity within the company. Thus, the limitation is not confined to a case of
supervisors wanting to join a rank-and-file union. The prohibition extends to a supervisors’
local union applying for membership in a national federation the members of which include
local unions of rank-and-file employees. In De La Salle University Medical Center and College of
Medicine v. Laguesma, we reiterated the rule that for the prohibition to apply, it is not enough
that the supervisory union and the rank-and-file union are affiliated with a single federation. In
addition, the supervisors must have direct authority over the rank-and-file employees.
Facts:
On July 8, 1998, private respondents Coastal Subic Bay Terminal, Inc. Rank-and-File
Union (CSBTI-RFU) and Coastal Subic Bay Terminal, Inc. Supervisory Union (CSBTI-SU) filed
separate petitions for certification election before Med-Arbiter Eladio de Jesus of the Regional
Office No. III. The rank-and-file union insists that it is a legitimate labor organization having
been issued a charter certificate by the Associated Labor Union (ALU), and the supervisory
union by the Associated Professional, Supervisory, Office and Technical Employees Union
(APSOTEU). Private respondents also alleged that the establishment in which they sought to
operate was unorganized.
Petitioner Coastal Subic Bay Terminal, Inc. (CSBTI) opposed both petitions.
Without ruling on the legitimacy of the respondent unions, the Med-Arbiter dismissed,
without prejudice to refiling, both petitions. The Med-Arbiter held that the ALU and APSOTEU
are one and the same federation having a common set of officers. Thus, the supervisory and the
rank-and-file unions were in effect affiliated with only one federation.
Both parties appealed to the Secretary of Labor and Employment, who reversed the
decision of the Med-Arbiter.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the Secretary.
Issue/s and Ratio:
Are ALU, a rank-and-file union and APSOTEU, a supervisory union one and the same because
of the commonalities between them? Are they commingled?
Held
YES.
Ruling:
In the instant case, the national federations that exist as separate entities to which the
rank-and-file and supervisory unions are separately affiliated with, do have a common set of
officers. In addition, APSOTEU, the supervisory federation, actively participates in the CSBTISU while ALU, the rank-and-file federation, actively participates in the CSBTI-RFU, giving
occasion to possible conflicts of interest among the common officers of the federation of rankand-file and the federation of supervisory unions. For as long as they are affiliated with the
APSOTEU and ALU, the supervisory and rank-and-file unions both do not meet the criteria to
attain the status of legitimate labor organizations, and thus could not separately petition for
certification elections.
The purpose of affiliation of the local unions into a common enterprise is to increase the
collective bargaining power in respect of the terms and conditions of labor. When there is
commingling of officers of a rank-and-file union with a supervisory union, the constitutional
policy on labor is circumvented. Labor organizations should ensure the freedom of employees
to organize themselves for the purpose of leveling the bargaining process but also to ensure the
freedom of workingmen and to keep open the corridor of opportunity to enable them to do it
for themselves.