TOPIC: Venue of petition
FACTS:
Private respondent, Union of Filipino Workers (UFW), filed with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Regional Office No. IV, a petition for certification election among the regular rank-and-file workers of petitioner.
Petitioner filed its comment to the petition for certification election. It sought the denial of the petition, among the grounds enumerated is that the Regional Office No. IV of the DOLE has no jurisdiction over the petition since petitioner Company’s place of business is located at Cubao, Quezon City, which is outside the jurisdiction of the said Regional Office. Consequently, it is the National Capital Region or NCR of the DOLE which has jurisdiction over said petition.
Med-Arbiter found petitioner’s claim unmeritorious and rendered a decision in favor of respondent union.
Private respondent, Union of Filipino Workers (UFW), filed with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Regional Office No. IV, a petition for certification election among the regular rank-and-file workers of petitioner.
Petitioner filed its comment to the petition for certification election. It sought the denial of the petition, among the grounds enumerated is that the Regional Office No. IV of the DOLE has no jurisdiction over the petition since petitioner Company’s place of business is located at Cubao, Quezon City, which is outside the jurisdiction of the said Regional Office. Consequently, it is the National Capital Region or NCR of the DOLE which has jurisdiction over said petition.
Med-Arbiter found petitioner’s claim unmeritorious and rendered a decision in favor of respondent union.
ISSUE: Whether or petitioners correctly interpreted Section
1, Rule V, Book V of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code which
states: “Where to file. A petition for certification election shall be filed
with the Regional Office which has jurisdiction over the principal office of
the Employer. The petition shall be in writing and under oath.”
RULING: No.
The word “jurisdiction” as used in said provision
refers to the venue where the petition for certification must be filed. Unlike
jurisdiction, which implies the power of the court to decide a case, venue
merely refers to the place where the action shall be brought. Venue touches
more the convenience of the parties rather than the substance of the case.
Reasoning Section 1, Rule V, Book V of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor
Code refers only to cases where the place of work of the employees and the
place of the principal office of the employer are within the same territorial
jurisdiction of the Regional Office where the petition for certification
election is filed. The said provision does not apply to the filing of petitions
for certification election where the place of work of the employees and the
place of principal office of the employer are located within the territorial
jurisdictions of different regional offices. We assume that in the drafting of
the Omnibus Rules, the Secretary of Labor and Employment took into
consideration the fact that there are many companies with factories located in
places different from places where the corporate offices are located. The
worker, being the economically-disadvantaged party whether as complainant,
petitioner or respondent, as the case may be, the nearest governmental
machinery to settle a labor dispute must beplaced at his immediate disposal and
the employer must in no case be allowed a choice in favor of another competent
agency sitting in another place to the inconvenience of the worker. Petitioner
has not shown how it will be prejudiced by the hearing on the petition for
certification election before the Regional Office No. IV, which has its offices
in Quezon City, the same city where the principal place of business of
petitioner is located. Petitioner is, therefore, being unreasonable in
demanding that the petition for certification election be filed with the
National Capital Region Office, which holds offices in Manila. Unlike in the
Rules governing the procedure before Regional Offices, the New Rules of
Procedure of the National Labor Relations Commission prescribes that all cases
in which labor arbiters have jurisdiction should be filed in the branch office
which has territorial jurisdiction over the “workplace of the
complainant/petitioner” (Rule IV, Sec. 1[a]). The NLRC Rules defines the
workplace as follows: “For purposes of venue, workplace shall be understood as
the place or locality where the employee is regularly assigned when the cause
of action arose. It shall include the place where the employee is supposed to
report back after a temporary detail, assignment or travel. . . “
DOCTRINE: There
is no commonality of interest between the employees in the garment factory and
cinema business. Thus, their separation into two distinct units is proper
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