Mercury Drug Corp. Employees Union-FFW v. Mercury Drug Corp.
CLARIFICATIONFacts
1. The Antecedents: On March 5, 2018, the Mercury Drug Corporation (Distribution Center) Employees Union-FFW (Union) filed a request for certification as the Sole and Exclusive Bargaining Agent (SEBA) for approximately 109 rank-and-file employees of Mercury Drug Corporation (MDC). A certification election was held on June 11, 2018, with the following results: 45 votes for the Union, 44 for 'No Union,' 4 spoiled ballots, and 1 segregated ballot. The segregated ballot belonged to the Union President, Bernabe Valencia Jr. (Valencia), who had been dismissed on June 2, 2018, for alleged violations of company rules. The Union argued Valencia was eligible because he filed a Notice of Strike with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) on June 7, 2018, contesting his dismissal. 2. Procedural History: The Mediator-Arbiter (Med-Arb) initially ruled that the Union failed to secure a majority and that Valencia was ineligible because he did not contest his dismissal in a forum of appropriate jurisdiction. On appeal, the Secretary of Labor and Employment (SOLE) reversed, ruling that two of the 'spoiled' ballots were actually 'abstentions' (valid votes) and that the Notice of Strike sufficiently contested the dismissal. MDC elevated the matter to the Court of Appeals (CA) via a Rule 65 petition. The CA reversed the SOLE, finding Valencia ineligible as he failed to file an illegal dismissal case with the Labor Arbiter (LA) before the election. The CA also held that the Union failed to reach the required majority regardless of whether Valencia's vote was counted. 3. The Petition: The Union filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45, arguing that the CA committed grave abuse of discretion in its calculation of valid votes and in ruling that Valencia was ineligible. MDC countered that the petition should be dismissed for forum shopping, as the Union failed to disclose a related pending case (CA-G.R. SP No. 173993) involving the same election results and administrative implementation.
Issue(s)
Whether the Union is guilty of forum shopping for failing to disclose a related pending case in its Certification Against Forum Shopping. Whether a Notice of Strike filed with the NCMB constitutes a contest of dismissal in a 'forum of appropriate jurisdiction' to render a dismissed employee eligible to vote in a certification election. Whether blank or unfilled ballots (abstentions) should be included in the total count of valid votes cast for purposes of determining the required majority under the Double Majority Rule.
Ruling
The Petition for Review on Certiorari is DENIED. The Decision and Resolution of the Court of Appeals are AFFIRMED.
Ratio Decidendi
On Issue 1: The Court found that forum shopping existed because there was an identity of parties and issues between the present petition and CA-G.R. SP No. 173993, which the Union failed to disclose. Under Rule 7, Section 5 of the Rules of Court, the failure to disclose a pending action involving the same issues is generally cause for dismissal. Applying Ingles v. Estrada, the Court distinguished between a defective verification, which is often curable, and a defective certification against forum shopping, which is generally not. However, the Court noted that the omission did not appear willful as the Union eventually acknowledged the pending case in its subsequent pleadings. Consequently, the Court opted to resolve the petition on the merits to settle the legal uncertainties affecting the certification process and the employees' rights. This approach ensures that procedural technicalities do not frustrate the final resolution of labor representation disputes. On Issue 2: The Court affirmed that Valencia was an ineligible voter because he failed to contest his dismissal in a forum of appropriate jurisdiction prior to the election. Rule IX, Section 5 of DOLE Department Order No. 40-03 requires a dismissed employee to contest the legality of their termination in the proper forum to remain a qualified voter. Under Article 224 of the Labor Code, the Labor Arbiter (LA) of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) has original and exclusive jurisdiction over termination disputes. The Court clarified that a Notice of Strike filed with the NCMB is intended for Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) or bargaining deadlocks and cannot substitute for a formal illegal dismissal complaint before the LA. Citing Allied Banking Corporation v. Court of Appeals, the Court noted that a dismissal for violating company rules does not constitute a ULP unless it is causally connected to self-organization rights. Since Valencia only filed his complaint with the LA in 2019, long after the June 2018 election, his status as a dismissed employee was not properly contested at the time of the vote. On Issue 3: The Court ruled that blank or unfilled ballots are 'abstentions' and must be included in the computation of the required majority. Under DOLE Department Order No. 40-I-15, an abstention is defined as a blank ballot validly cast by an eligible voter and is considered a valid vote. The 'Double Majority Rule' requires a union to garner a majority of the 'valid votes cast,' and since abstentions are valid votes, they necessarily form part of the denominator. The Union's argument that abstentions should only count for the first majority (participation) but not the second majority (winning) was rejected as unreasonable and unfair. Logic dictates that if a ballot is recognized as a valid expression of voter participation, it must be included in the total count used to determine the majority representation. In this case, with 91 valid votes (including 2 abstentions), the Union's 45 votes fell short of the 46 votes required for a simple majority.
Main Doctrine
In certification elections, the eligibility of a dismissed employee to vote is contingent upon the existence of a pending contest of the dismissal before a forum of appropriate jurisdiction at the time of the election. For termination disputes, the Labor Arbiter (LA) of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) possesses original and exclusive jurisdiction; thus, a Notice of Strike filed with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) is insufficient to preserve voter eligibility. Additionally, under the 'Double Majority Rule,' blank or unfilled ballots are classified as 'abstentions' and are counted as valid votes, thereby increasing the total number of valid votes cast and the corresponding majority required for a union to be certified as the Sole and Exclusive Bargaining Agent (SEBA).