Trade Unions of the Philippines and Allied Services v. National Housing Corporation
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The National Housing Corporation (NHC) is a government-owned corporation established in 1959. The petitioner, Trade Unions of the Philippines and Allied Services (TUPAS), is a legitimate labor organization with a chapter in NHC. TUPAS sought to represent the workers of NHC for collective bargaining purposes. Procedural History: TUPAS filed a petition for a certification election with the Department of Labor on July 13, 1977, asserting majority membership. The med-arbiter dismissed the petition, citing a prohibition on government-owned or controlled corporation employees forming labor organizations for collective bargaining. TUPAS appealed to the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR), which reversed the dismissal and ordered a certification election. However, the BLR's order was set aside upon a motion for reconsideration filed by NHC. The Petition: TUPAS filed this special civil action for certiorari with the Supreme Court, seeking to annul the BLR's resolution that set aside the order for a certification election. TUPAS argues that NHC employees have the right to organize and that a certification election should be held to determine the exclusive bargaining representative for the rank-and-file employees of NHC.
Issue(s)
Whether employees of government-owned or controlled corporations without original charters are covered by the Labor Code and possess the right to form unions and participate in certification elections. Whether the resolution of the Officer-in-Charge of the Bureau of Labor Relations, which set aside the order for a certification election, was proper.
Ruling
The Supreme Court annulled and set aside the resolution of the Bureau of Labor Relations dated November 21, 1978, and granted the petition for the conduct of a certification election among the employees of respondent National Housing Corporation.
Ratio Decidendi
On the right to unionize and certification elections for employees of government-owned or controlled corporations: The Court reiterated its ruling in a previous case involving the same respondent corporation, wherein it held that under the 1973 Constitution, employees of NHC and other government-owned or controlled corporations were governed by civil service laws because the civil service embraced every branch, agency, subdivision, and instrumentality of the government, including such corporations. The Court emphasized that excluding subsidiary corporations from civil service laws would permit circumvention of the constitutional provision. However, the Court noted that the 1987 Constitution modified this rule, stating that the civil service embraces only government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters. Consequently, corporations organized under the general corporation law, like NHC, are no longer automatically covered by civil service laws. The Court concluded that there is no impediment to the holding of a certification election among the workers of NHC, as they are covered by the Labor Code, NHC being a government-owned and/or controlled corporation without an original charter. The Court also pointed out that even if they were covered by civil service laws, a certification election could still be conducted under Executive Order No. 180 for employees of government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters. The Court underscored the constitutional guarantee of the right to self-organization for all workers, including those in the public sector, as provided in Section 8, Article III and Section 3, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution. The Court cited the rationale behind this innovation, which aims to prevent discrimination against government workers and provide them with a forum for professional development and a mechanism to expose graft and corruption. The Court further referenced Article 244 of the Labor Code, as amended by Executive Order No. 111, which explicitly grants employees of government corporations established under the Corporation Code the right to organize and bargain collectively. The Court also mentioned that subsequent statutory developments have rendered academic the distinction between the two types of government-owned or controlled corporations regarding certification elections, as both are now subject to procedures for determining exclusive bargaining representatives, either under the Labor Code or Executive Order No. 180. There was no ratio provided for the second issue in the original text.
Main Doctrine
Employees of government-owned or controlled corporations without an original charter are covered by the Labor Code and have the right to form unions and participate in certification elections. The 1987 Constitution limits the coverage of civil service laws to government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters.