Topic: Union
registration; Definition
FACTS:
1. Petitioners
pray for writs of certiorari and prohibition to restrain
respondents from enforcing an order of cancellation of the registration
certificate of the Social Security System Employees Association — hereinafter
referred to as the SSSEA — which is affiliated to the Philippine Association of
Free Labor Unions — hereinafter referred to as PAFLU — as well as to annul all
proceedings in connection with said cancellation and to prohibit respondents
from enforcing Section 23 of Republic Act No. 875.
2. In registration of Labor Organization, there was hearing
conducted because of the following:
a.
Failure to furnish the Bureau of Labor Relations with copies of the
reports on the finances of that union duly verified by affidavits which its
treasurer or treasurers rendered to said union and its members covering the
periods from September 24, 1960 to September 23, 1961 and September 24, 1961 to
September 23, 1962, inclusive, within sixty days of the 2 respective latter
dates, which are the end of its fiscal year; and
b.
Failure to submit to this office the names, postal addresses and
non-subversive affidavits of the officers of that union within sixty days of
their election in October (1st Sunday), 1961 and 1963, in conformity with
Article IV (1) of its constitution and by-laws.
3. the
Registrar rendered a decision cancelling the SSSEA's Registration Certificate
No. 1-IP169, issued on September 30, 1960. Soon later, or on October 28, 1963,
Alfredo Fajardo, president of the SSSEA moved for a reconsideration of said
decision and prayed for time, up to November 15, within which to submit the
requisite papers and data. An opposition thereto having been filed by one
Paulino Escueta, a member of the SSSEA, upon the ground that the latter had
never submitted any financial statement to its members, said motion was heard
on November 27, 1963. Subsequently, or on December 4, 1963, the Registrar
issued an order declaring that the SSSEA had failed to submit the requirements
needed.
4. Pending
such resolution, or on December 16, the PAFLU, the SSSEA, Alfredo Fajardo
"and all the officers and members" of the SSSEA commenced the present
action, for the purpose stated at the beginning of this decision, upon the
ground that Section 23 of Republic Act No. 875 violates their freedom of
assembly and association, and is inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights; that it unduly delegates judicial power to an administrative
agency; that said Section 23 should be deemed repealed by ILO-Convention No.
87; that respondents have acted without or in excess of jurisdiction and with
grave abuse of discretion in promulgating, on November 19, 1963, its decision dated
October 22, 1963, beyond the 30-day period provided in Section 23(c) of
Republic Act No. 875; that "there is no appeal or any other plain, speedy
and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law"; that the decision
complained of had not been approved by the Secretary of Labor; and that the
cancellation of the SSSEA's certificate of registration would cause irreparable
injury.
ISSUE/S:
WON Section 23
of Republic Act No. 875 unduly limits the freedom of assembly and association?
RULING: NO. The registration prescribed in paragraph (b) of
said section is not a limitation to the right
of assembly or association, which may be exercised with
or without said registration. The latter
is merely a condition sine qua non for the acquisition
of legal personality by labor organizations, associations or unions
and the possession of the "rights and privileges granted by law to
legitimate labor organizations". The Constitution does not guarantee these
rights and privileges, much less said personality, which are mere statutory creations,
for the possession and exercise of which registration is required to protect
both labor and the public against abuses, fraud, or impostors who pose as
organizers, although not truly accredited agents of the union they purport to
represent. Such requirement is a valid exercise of the police power, because
the activities in which labor organizations, associations and union of workers
are engaged affect public interest, which should be protected. Furthermore,
the obligation to submit financial statements, as a condition for the
non-cancellation of a certificate of registration, is a reasonable regulation
for the benefit of the members of the organization, considering that the same
generally solicits funds or membership, as well as oftentimes collects, on
behalf of its members, huge amounts of money due to them or to the
organization.
1.
For the same reasons, said Section 23 does not impinge upon the right of
organization guaranteed in the Declaration of Human Rights, or run counter to Articles
2, 4, 7 and Section 2 of Article 8 of the ILO-Convention No. 87, which provide
that "workers and employers, ... shall have the right to establish and ...
join organizations of their own choosing, without previous authorization";
that "workers and employers organizations shall not be liable to be
dissolved or suspended by administrative authority"; that "the
acquisition of legal personality by workers' and employers' organizations, ...
shall not be made subject to conditions of such a character as to restrict the
application of the provisions" above mentioned; and that "the
guarantees provided for in" said Convention shall not be impaired by the
law of the land.
2.
Moreover, paragraph (d) of said-Section ordains that:
The registration and permit
of a legitimate labor organization shall be cancelled by the
Department of Labor, if the Department has reason to believe that the labor
organization no longer meets one or more of the requirements of
paragraph (b) above; or fails to file with the Department Labor either its financial
report within the sixty days of the end of its fiscal year or
the names of its new officers along with their
non-subversive affidavits as outlined in paragraph (b) above within
sixty days of their election; however, the Department of Labor shall not order
the cancellation of the registration and permit without due notice and hearing,
as provided under paragraph (c) above and the affected labor organization shall
have the same right of appeal to the courts as previously provided.
3.
The determination of the question whether the requirements of paragraph
(b) have been met, or whether or not the requisite financial report or
non-subversive affidavits have been filed within the period above stated, is
not judicial power. Indeed, all officers of the government, including those in
the executive department, are supposed, to act on the basis of facts, as they
see the same. This is specially true as regards administrative agencies given
by law the power to investigate and render decisions concerning details related
to the execution of laws the enforcement of which is entrusted thereto.
DISPOSITIVE: The secretary of labor, the director
of labor relations and the registrar of labor organizations won.
DOCTRINE: There is no incompatibility between Republic Act
No. 875 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upon the other hand, the
cancellation of the SSSEA's registration certificate would not entail a
dissolution of said association or its suspension. The existence of the SSSEA
would not be affected by said cancellation, although its juridical personality
and its statutory rights and privileges — as distinguished from those conferred
by the Constitution — would be suspended thereby.To be registered, pursuant to
Section 23(b) of Republic Act No. 875, a labor organization, association or
union of workers must file with the Department of Labor the following
documents:
(1) A copy of the constitution and by-laws of the
organization together with a list of all officers of the association, their
addresses and the address of the principal office of the organization;
(2) A sworn statement of all the officers of the
said organization, association or union to the effect that they are not members
of the Communist Party and that they are not members of any organization which
teaches the overthrow of the Government by force or by any illegal or
unconstitutional method; and
(3) If the applicant organization has been in
existence for one or more years, a copy of its last annual financial report.
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