University of the Philippines v. Ferrer-Calleja
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The case originated from a petition filed by the "Organization of Non-Academic Personnel of UP" (ONAPUP) seeking a certification election among non-academic employees. The "All UP Workers' Union" intervened, proposing a single union for all rank-and-file employees, both academic and non-academic. The University of the Philippines (UP) proposed two separate unions: one for academic and one for non-academic personnel. Procedural History: Director Pura Ferrer-Calleja of the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) ruled that the appropriate organizational unit should embrace all regular rank-and-file employees, teaching and non-teaching, of UP. UP sought clarification, arguing that certain high-level employees (supervisory non-academic and teaching staff from Assistant Professor upwards) should be excluded. Director Calleja, in an Order dated October 30, 1990, declared that professors, associate professors, and assistant professors are rank-and-file employees, qualified to join unions. UP's motion for reconsideration was denied. The Petition: The University of the Philippines filed a special civil action for certiorari seeking to nullify the Orders of Director Calleja, arguing that professors are high-level employees and that academic and non-academic employees should form separate bargaining units.
Issue(s)
Whether professors, associate professors, and assistant professors are "high-level employees" under Executive Order No. 180. Whether academic and non-academic employees of the University of the Philippines should constitute a single collective bargaining unit.
Ruling
The Supreme Court affirmed the Director's ruling that professors, associate professors, and assistant professors are rank-and-file employees. However, it modified the August 7, 1990 Order, ruling that non-academic rank-and-file employees shall constitute a bargaining unit to the exclusion of academic employees, who may organize themselves into a separate unit.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of whether professors, associate professors, and assistant professors are "high-level employees": The Court held that these academic personnel cannot be considered high-level employees. While they participate in academic personnel committees and the University Council, their functions are not managerial or highly confidential in nature as contemplated by Executive Order No. 180. The powers exercised by these committees are recommendatory and subject to review by higher bodies, lacking the independent judgment required for managerial status. Furthermore, the policy-determining functions of the University Council pertain to academic matters concerning students, not employer-employee relations, thus not creating a conflict of interest that would disqualify them from union membership. The Court emphasized that the "policy-determining" aspect in public sector unionism refers to policies negotiable in collective bargaining, which academic matters do not fall under. Therefore, these professors are properly classified as rank-and-file employees. On the issue of whether academic and non-academic employees should form a single collective bargaining unit: The Court ruled that the "community or mutuality of interests" test dictates the formation of separate bargaining units. It found a significant dichotomy of interests, dissimilarity in work, duties, compensation, and working conditions between academic and non-academic personnel. Teachers, with their intellectual pursuits and academic responsibilities, have substantially different interests from janitors, clerks, or mechanics. This divergence necessitates separate units to best assure the exercise of collective bargaining rights for each group. The Court concluded that forming two distinct units—one for non-academic rank-and-file and another for academic rank-and-file—is the most appropriate arrangement, falling under the exception in Section 9 of Executive Order No. 180, which allows deviation from the employer unit when circumstances require.
Main Doctrine
Professors, associate professors, and assistant professors of the University of the Philippines are rank-and-file employees and not high-level employees. The non-academic rank-and-file employees of the University shall constitute a bargaining unit separate from the academic employees.