AIR PHIL. CORP VS. BLR 492 SCRA 241

Topic: Cancellation of Union Certificate of Registration

FACTS:

Respondent Air Philippines Flight Attendants Association (APFLAA) was issued a Certificate of Registration by the DOLE

APFLAA filed a petition for certification election as the collective bargaining representative of the flight attendants of APC

After the Med-Arbiter rendered a ruling ordering the holding of a certification election, such election was held, with majority of votes cast in favor of AFPLAA

APC filed a petition for De-Certification and Cancellation of Union Registration against APFLAA with DOLE

-    APFLAA could not be registered as a labor organization, as its composition consisted of “a mixture of supervisory and rank-and-file flight attendants

-     Flight attendants holding the position of “Lead Cabin Attendant,” which according to it is supervisory in character, were among those who comprised APFLAA

DOLE: dismissed petition, holding that Article 245 of the Labor Code does not provide a ground for cancellation of union registration, which is instead governed by Article 239 of the LC

ISSUE: Whether or not APFLAA’s union registration may be cancelled considering that the union is allegedly composed of a mixture of supervisory and rank-and-file employees

RULING:

NO. For the purpose of de-certifying a union, it is not enough to establish that the rank-and-file union includes ineligible employees in its membership. Pursuant to Article 239 (a) and (c) of the Labor Code, it must be shown that there was misrepresentation, false statement or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the constitution and by-laws or amendments thereto, the minutes of ratification, or in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the election of officers, the list of voters, or failure to submit these documents together with the list of the newly elected-appointed officers and their postal addresses to the BLR.

In its Petition for De-certification and Cancellation of Union Registration, APC did not impute on APFLAA such misrepresentation of the character necessitated under Article 239 (a) and (c) of the Labor Code. APC merely argued that APFLAA was not qualified to become a legitimate labor organization by reason of its mixed composition of rank-and-file and supervisory employees; and that APFLAA committed misrepresentation by making it appear that its composition was composed purely of rank-and-file employees. Such misrepresentation (if it can be called as such) as alleged by APC, is not conformable to Article 239 (a) and (c) of the Labor Code. Indeed, it appears from the record that APC instead devoted the bulk of its arguments in establishing that supervisory employees comprised part of the membership of APFLAA, a ground which is not sufficient to cause the cancellation of union registration. And this is of course all under the assumption that Lead Cabin Attendants are indeed supervisory employees, a claim consistently denied by APFLAA and which was not confirmed by either the DOLE-NCR or the BLR.

DISPOSITIVE: APFLAA won.

DOCTRINE: For the purpose of de-certifying a union, it is not enough to establish that the rank-and-file union includes ineligible employees in its membership. Pursuant to Article 239 (a) and (c) of the Labor Code, it must be shown that there was misrepresentation, false statement or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the constitution and by-laws or amendments thereto, the minutes of ratification, or in connection with the election of officers, minutes of the election of officers, the list of voters, or failure to submit these documents together with the list of the newly elected-appointed officers and their postal addresses to the BLR.