Saturday, October 22, 2005
Jurisdiction over strike
By Dominador A. Almirante
Labor case digest
On May 20, 1994, rank-and-file employees who are officers and members of petitioner, Samahang Manggagawa Sa Sulpicio Lines Inc. – NAFLU, did not report for work and instead gathered in front of Pier 12, North Harbor in Manila.
As a remedial measure, then Labor Secretary Nieves Confesor issued an order dated May 20, 1994 directing the striking employees to return to work. The order also certified the labor dispute to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) for compulsory arbitration. Samahang Manggagawa maintained that the labor arbiter, not the NLRC, should have taken cognizance of the case. Did this argument find merit?
Ruling: No.
The Secretary was explicitly granted, under Article 263 (g) of the Labor Code, the authority to assume jurisdiction over a labor dispute causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout in an industry that is indispensable to the national interest, and to decide on the same issue, accordingly. Necessarily, this authority to assume jurisdiction over the said labor dispute must include and extend to all questions and controversies arising from it, including cases over which the labor arbiter has exclusive jurisdiction.
In the same manner, when the Secretary of labor and employment certifies the labor dispute to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration, the latter is concomitantly empowered to resolve all questions and controversies arising from it, including cases otherwise belonging originally and exclusively to the labor arbiter.
(Samahang Manggagawa Sa Sulpicio Lines Inc. et. al. vs. Sulpicio Lines Inc. G.R. 140992, March 25, 2004, quoting International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. versus Secretary of Labor and Employment, G.R. Nos. 92981-83, Jan. 9, 1992, 205 SCRA 59, cited in PASVIL/Pascual Liner Inc. Workers Union-NAFLU vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 124823, July 26, 1999, 311 SCRA 444, 451-452).
(October 22, 2005 issue)
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