SAN MIGUEL CORP EMPLOYEES UNION VS SAN MIGUEL PACKING EMPLOYEES UNION . G.R. No. 171153

Topic: Union Registration Requirements

QUICKIE SUMMARY: SM Packing Employees Union is a LOCAL or CHAPTER of PDMP which seeks to be an INDEPENDENT LABOR ORGANIZATION. For its registration AS A CHAPTER, the applicable law to them is the D.O. No. 9 which no longer requires the submission of the names of at least 20% of all its employees in the bargaining unit. San Mig Corp Union claims that SM Packing failed to meet the requirements set forth by Art 234 of the Labor Code which mandates the submission of the 20% names and that the Implementing Rules of D.O. No. 9 is violative of Art 234 of the Labor Code because it provides a less stringent rule (which does not require the submission of the 20% names). SC ruled that the requirements for the registration of an INDEPENDENT LABOR UNION and the requirements for the creation of a LOCAL or CHAPTER are different. Since SM Packing seeks to be a legitimate labor organization, D.O No. 9 is not the one applicable, but Art 234 of the Labor Code.

FACTS:

Petitioner is the incumbent bargaining agent for the bargaining unit comprised of the regular monthly-paid rank and file employees of the three divisions of San Miguel Corporation namely San Miguel Corporate Staff Unit (SMCSU), San Miguel Brewing Philippines (SMBP), and the San Miguel Packaging Products (SMPP)

Respondent is registered as a chapter of Pambansang Diwa ng Manggagawang Pilipino. Thereafter, respondent filed three separate petitions for certification election to represent SMPP, SMCSU, and SMBP. All three petitions were dismissed, on the ground that the separate petitions fragmented a single bargaining unit.

Petitioner filed with the DOLE-NCR a petition seeking the cancellation of respondent’s registration and its dropping from the rolls of legitimate labor organizations. Petitioner accused respondent of committing fraud and falsification, and non-compliance with registration requirements in obtaining its certificate of registration. It raised allegations that respondent violated Articles 239(a), (b) and (c) and 234(c) of the Labor Code.

DOLE-NCR Regional Director Maximo B. Lim found that respondent did not comply with the 20% membership requirement and, thus, ordered the cancellation of its certificate of registration and removal from the rolls of legitimate labor organizations

Bureau of Labor Relations: Reversed DOLE NCR and declared that SM Packing Employees shall hereby remain in the roster of legitimate labor organizations

CA affirmed BLR

·      Petitioner’s contention: Petitioner posits that respondent is required to submit a list of members comprising at least 20% of the employees in the bargaining unit before it may acquire legitimacy, citing Article 234(c) of the Labor Code. Petitioner also insists that the 20% requirement for registration of respondent must be based not on the number of employees of a single division, but in all three divisions of the company in all the offices and plants of SMC since they are all part of one bargaining unit. Petitioner thus maintains that respondent, in any case, failed to meet this 20% membership requirement since it based its membership on the number of employees of a single division only, namely, the SMPP.

ISSUE: W/N SM Packing Employees met the requirements and thus, must remain a legitimate labor organization

RULING: NO, SM Packing Employees failed to meet the requirement. Hence, they cannot be declared as a legitimate labor organization

RATIO: A perusal of the records reveals that respondent is registered with the BLR as a local or chapter of PDMP. The applicable Implementing Rules (Department Order No. 9) enunciates a two-fold procedure for the creation of a chapter or a local. The first involves the affiliation of an independent union with a federation or national union or industry union. The second, finding application in the instant petition, involves the direct creation of a local or a chapter through the process of chartering. The Implementing Rules stipulate that a local or chapter may be directly created by a federation or national union.

Petitioner insists that Section 3 of the Implementing Rules, as amended by Department Order No. 9, violated Article 234 of the Labor Code when it provided for less stringent requirements for the creation of a chapter or local. Article 234 of the Labor Code provides that an independent labor organization acquires legitimacy only upon its registration with the BLR: xxx 3) The names of all its members comprising at least twenty percent (20%) of all the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate; xxx

It is emphasized that the foregoing pertains to the registration of an independent labor organization, association or group of unions or workers.

However, the creation of a branch, local or chapter is treated differently. This Court, in the landmark case of Progressive Development Corporation v. Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, declared that when an unregistered union becomes a branch, local or chapter, some of the aforementioned requirements for registration are no longer necessary or compulsory. Whereas an applicant for registration of an independent union is mandated to submit, among other things, the number of employees and names of all its members comprising at least 20% of the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate, as provided under Article 234 of the Labor Code and Section 2 of Rule III, Book V of the Implementing Rules, the same is no longer required of a branch, local or chapter. The intent of the law in imposing less requirements in the case of a branch or local of a registered federation or national union is to encourage the affiliation of a local union with a federation or national union in order to increase the local unions bargaining powers respecting terms and conditions of labor.

DISPOSITIVE: San Miguel Corp Union won. The Certificate of Registration of San Miguel Packaging Union is ORDERED CANCELLED, and DROPPED from the rolls of legitimate labor organizations.

DOCTRINE: When an unregistered union becomes a branch, local or chapter, some of the requirements for registration are no longer necessary or compulsory. Whereas an applicant for registration of an independent union is mandated to submit, among other things, the number of employees and names of all its members comprising at least 20% of the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to operate.