ALU vs. Ferrer-Calleja

 ALU vs. Ferrer-Calleja

G.R. No.85085

November 6, 1989

DOCTRINE:

Requirement of 20% signature for a certification election under Art. 257 applies only in unorganized labor organization

FACTS:

Petitioner Associated Labor Union (ALU) had a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with PASAR which expired on April 1, 1987. Several days before the expiration of the said CBA or on March 23, 1987, private respondent National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU) filed a petition for certification election with the Bureau of Labor Relations Regional Office in Tacloban City docketed as MED-ARB-RO VII Case No. 3-28-87, alleging, among others, that no certification election had been held in PASAR within twelve (12) months immediately preceding the filing of the said petition.

 

Petitioner moved to intervene and sought the dismissal of the petition on the ground that NAFLU failed to present the necessary signatures in support of its petition.

 

Med-Arbiter Bienvenido C. Elorcha dismissed the petition. However, the order of dismissal was set aside in another order dated May 8, 1987 and the case was rescheduled for hearing on May 29, 1987. The said order likewise enjoined PASAR from entering into a collective bargaining agreement with any union until after the issue of representation is finally resolved. In the order dated June 1, 1987, the petition for certification was dismissed for failure of NAFLU to solicit 20% of the total number of rank and file employees while ALU submitted 33 pages containing the signatures of 88.5% of the rank and file employees at PASAR.

 

The petition is anchored on the argument that the holding of certification elections in organized establishments is mandated only where a petition is filed questioning the majority status of the incumbent union and that it is only after due hearing where it is established that the union claiming the majority status in the bargaining unit has indeed a considerable support that a certification election should be ordered, otherwise, the petition should be summarily dismissed. Petitioner is of the view that Article 257 of the Labor Code which requires the signature of at least 20% of the total number of rank-and-file employees should be applied in the case at bar.

ISSUE/S: 

Whether or not the holding of certification elections in organized establishments is mandated only where a petition is filed questioning the majority status of the incumbent union, and that it is only after establishing that a union has indeed a considerable support that a certification election should be ordered.

HELD:

 No. Article 257 is applicable only to unorganized labor organizations and not to establishments like PASAR where there exists a certified bargaining agent, petitioner ALU, which as the record shows had previously entered into a CBA with the management. This could be discerned from the clear intent of the law which provides that—“ART. 257. Petitions in unorganized establishments—In any establishment where there is no certified bargaining agent, the petition for certification election filed by a legitimate labor organization shall be supported by the written consent of at least twenty per cent (20%) of all the employees in the bargaining unit. Upon receipt and verification of such petition, the Med-Arbiter shall automatically order the conduct of a certification election.”

 

Reasoning in cases of organized establishments where there exists a certified bargaining agent, what is essential is whether the petition for certification election was filed within the sixty-day freedom period. 

Article 256 of the Labor Code, as amended by Executive Order No. 111, provides:

 

ART. 256. Representation issue in organized establishments. In organized establishments, when a petition questioning the majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent is filed before the Department within the sixty-day period before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, the Med-Arbiter shall automatically order an election by secret ballot to ascertain the will of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit. To have a valid election, at least a majority of all eligible voters in the unit must have cast their votes. The labor union receiving the majority of the valid votes cast shall be certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of all the workers in the unit.

 

When an election which provides for three or more choices results in no choice receiving a majority of the valid votes cast, a run-off election shall be conducted between the choices receiving the two highest number of votes. Article 256 is clear. The mere filing of a petition for certification election within the freedom period is sufficient basis for the respondent Director to order the holding of a certification election.Was the petition filed by NAFLU instituted within the freedom period? The record speaks for itself. The previous CBA entered into by petitioner ALU was due to expire on April 1, 1987. The petition for certification was filed by NAFLU on March 23, 1987, well within the freedom period.