Labor Law Review |Sobrevinas | August December 2014|Page

003_LVN Pictures Inc. v.

Philippine Musicians Guild
January 28, 1961
J. Concepcion
Jerome Marcelo

SUMMARY: The Phil. Musicians Guild filed in the Court of

Industrial Relations a petition for certification as the sole and
exclusive bargaining agency for all musicians working in 3 film
companies. To defeat this petition, it was alleged that the
musicians were not employees of the film companies, but
worked for independent contractors called musical directors.
CIR: There is an employer-employee relationship. Petition for
certification is meritorious. SC: CIR affirmed.
DOCTRINE: An employer-employee relationship exists where
the person for whom the services are performed reserves a
right to control not only the end to be achieved but also the
means to be used in reaching such end. The decisive nature of
said control over the "means to be used" is illustrated in the
Gilchrist Timber case in which, by reason of said control, the
employer-employee relationship was held to exist between the
management
and
the
workers,
notwithstanding
the
intervention of an alleged independent contractor, who had,
and exercised, the power to hire and fire said workers.

make music recordings without which a motion picture is

incomplete; that 95% of the musicians playing for said
companies are members of the Guild; and that the Guild has no
knowledge of the existence of any other legitimate labor
organization representing them.
The 3 companies denied that they have any musicians as
employees, and alleged that the musical numbers in the filming
of the companies are furnished by independent contractors called
musical directors.
CIR: Theory of the Guild is sustained. The Guild is certified as the
sole and exclusive bargaining agency of all musicians working
with said companies.
A reconsideration of the order having been denied by the
Court en banc, only LVN and Sampaguita filed these petitions for
review by certiorari.
ISSUE/HELD
1. WON the musicians are employees of the film companies.
YES

FACTS: The Philippine Musicians Guild (Guild) filed a petition

before the Court of Industrial Relations (CIR), praying that it be
certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining agency for all
musicians working in LVN Pictures, Inc. (LVN) and Sampaguita
Pictures, Inc. (Sampaguita) and Premiere Productions, Inc..

RATIO: Apart from impugning the conclusion of the CIR on the

status of the Guild members as alleged employees, LVN
maintains that a petition for certification cannot be entertained
when the existence of employer-employee relationship between
the parties is contested. However, this claim is neither borne out
by any legal provision nor supported by any authority. So long as,
after due hearing, the parties are found to bear said relationship,
it is proper to pass upon the merits of the petition for
certification. The real issue in these cases, is whether or not the
musicians in question are employees of the film companies.

The Guild averred that it is a duly registered legitimate labor

organization; that LVN, Sampaguita and Premiere Productions are
corporations engaged in the making, processing and distribution
of motion pictures; that said companies employ musicians to

The musical directors above referred to have no such control over

the musicians involved here. The musical directors control
neither the music to be played, nor the musicians playing it. The
film companies summon the musicians to work, through the

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musical directors. The film companies, through the musical
directors, fix the date, the time and the place of work. The film
companies, not the musical directors, provide the transportation
to and from the studio. The film companies furnish meals at
dinner time.
Also, during the recording sessions, the motion picture director
who is an employee of the company, not the musical director,
supervises the recording of the musicians and tells them what to
do in every detail. The motion picture director, not the musical
director, solely directs the performance of the musicians before
the camera. The motion picture director supervises the
performance of all the actors, including the musicians who
appear in the scenes, so that in the actual performance to be
shown in the screen, the musical director's intervention has
stopped. The movie director directly controls the activities of the
musicians.
It is well settled that an employer-employee relationship exists
where the person for whom the services are performed reserves
a right to control not only the end to be achieved but also the
means to be used in reaching such end (Alabama Highway
Express). The decisive nature of said control over the "means to
be used" is illustrated in the case of Gilchrist Timber Co. in which,
by reason of said control, the employer-employee relationship
was held to exist between the management and the workers,
notwithstanding the intervention of an alleged independent
contractor, who had, and exercised, the power to hire and fire
said workers. The aforementioned control over the means to be
used in reading the desired end is possessed and exercised by
the film companies over the musicians in the cases before us.
RULING: The order appealed from is affirmed, with costs against
petitioners.