CASE DIGEST: WESTERN AGUSAN WORKERS UNION LOCAL V. TRAJANO

WESTERN AGUSAN WORKERS UNION LOCAL

TRAJANO

G.R. No. 75724

[May 6, 1991]

NATURE

Petition for certiorari

FACTS

The Philippine Transport and General Workers’ Organization (PTGWO) instituted a petition for certification election alleging, in substance, that thirty percent (30%) of the rank and file workers of the Nasipit Lumber Company (NALCO) and its sister companies supported its petition; that almost all of the 2,100 workers of the company belonged to bargaining agent; that the collective bargaining agreement between NALCO and WAWU-ULGWP Local 101 would expire on June 30, 1985; and that there has been no certification election in the company during the twelve

(12) months immediately preceding the petition’s filing. Attached to the petition were the signatures of some 612 purported employees of the company.

-This was opposed by the compulsory intervenor WAWU-ULGWP Local 101 on the grounds that the petition does not meet the 30% consent requirement as the names and signatures appearing in the list submitted by PTGWO had been secured through fraud and that the purported signatures thereon were mere forgeries.

-The members of the Local KMU-WAWU adopted a resolution to disaffiliate from ULGWP invoking the law on disaffiliation which limits such actions only within the 60-day freedom period. WAWU contended that as an independently registered union, its disaffiliation from ULGWP did not extinguish its judicial personality; that it was the principal party to the CBA while ULGWP was only its agent from which it could disaffiliate at will; that while it was in favor of the certification election, the federation’s name should not be attached to its own in the same ballot; that as the principal party to the CBA, it was the bargaining agent entitled to administer and enforce the agreement with the employer; that the issue of disaffiliation was not a prejudicial question to the settlement of representation proceedings; that, in fact, it could be treated in a separate proceeding. Further, WAWU enjoined NALCO from farther deducting union dues in favor of ULGWP.

-On the other hand, ULGWP argued that since it lacks the requisite support from the members of the bargaining unit, the petition should not be granted; that the disaffiliation of WAWU was void as only 429 out of total union membership of 2,149 voted in its favor and since no notice of disaffiliation was given to ULGWP by WAWU as required by the federation’s constitution and by-laws; that WAWU had not acquired any legal personality to participate in the representation proceedings as it had not died its intervention within the freedom period; that while it was true that majority of its officers had disaffiliated, ULGWP had reorganized its local and had a new set of officers elected, that the federation had issued a charter to WAWU-ULGWP Local 101 making it a local organization of the federation; that being the true and real compulsory intervenor, WAWU-ULGWP Local 101 should be placed on the ballot as a choice for the workers in the certification election. Moreover, ULGWP stressed to NALCO that WAWU’s disaffiliation was void and, hence, it was still entitled to receive the dues checked-off from the members of the bargaining unit.

ISSUE

1. WON a certification election should be held at the employer corporations

HELD

1. YES.

Reasoning From the comment and supplemental comment of respondent WAWU, it appears evident that the issues in this case have become moot and academic. But even assuming such is not the case, it has long been settled that the policy of the Labor Code is indisputably partial to the holding of a certification election so as to arrive in a manner definitive and certain concerning the choice of the labor organization to represent the workers in a collective bargaining unit. Conformably to said basic concept, this Court recognized that the Bureau of Labor Relations in the exercise of sound discretion, may order a certification election notwithstanding the failure to meet the 30% requirement. As observed by the Solicitor General, serious doubts exist whether WAWU-ULGWP-Local 101 still represents the majority of the rank-and-file employees at the employer corporations. Thus, while WAWUULGWP Local 101 maintains that the work force consists of 2,149 rank-and-file employees, yet PTGWO was able to muster 620 support signatures, not to mention that 429 of its members voted to disaffiliate from WAWU-ULGWP Local 101. Consequently, the sentiments/loyalties of the remaining 1,100 rank-and-file employees is yet to be determined by the best means possible which is through certification election.

Disposition

Petition DISMISSED for having become moot and academic