Labor Relations

Labor Organization
Labor Organizations

• Any union or association of employees in the private sector which

exists in whole or in part for the purpose of collective bargaining
agreement or of dealing with employers concerning conditions of
employment.

• Thus, not all worker’s groups are labor organizations.

Legitimate Labor Organizations
• These are labor organizations that have been registered under the
appropriate regulations under the law.

• What’s the difference?

• Registered and unregistered labor organizations can deal with employers

regarding conditions of employment.

• However, only registered, thus legitimate labor organizations, can qualify for
collective bargaining, file a petition of certification election, declare a legal
strike, etc.
Classifications of Labor
Organizations
• Macro-Labor Organizations
• National Union/Federation
• Industry Union
• Trade Union Center
• Union or Worker’s Alliance

• Micro-Labor Relations
• Independent Union
• Chartered Local
National Union/Federation
• Take note of the Registration requirements

• Where to file: Regional Office/BLR but shall be processed and acted upon by the BLR

• Industry Unions shall be treated like national union/federation.

• Trade Union Centers cannot issue or create charters. (SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION
EMPLOYEES UNION–PHILIPPINE TRANSPORT AND GENERAL WORKERS
ORGANIZATION (SMCEU–PTGWO) vs. SAN MIGUEL PACKAGING PRODUCTS
EMPLOYEES UNION–PAMBANSANG DIWA NG MANGGAGAWANG PILIPINO
(SMPPEU–PDMP), G.R. No. 171153, September 12, 2007)
Independent Unions
• Again, take note of the registration requirements.

• Where to file: Regional office where they operate.

• If it affiliates with a national union/federation, it is

required to file a report of such affiliation.
The 20% requirement
• Question: is the 20% requirement required only for registration or should
they maintain it all throughout to retain their accreditation?

• Answer: only for registration.

• Question: what is the effect of withdrawal of membership?

• Answer: Depends on the time of withdrawal. If withdrawal was made before

application and it affected the 20% requirement, then the registration of the union
shall be affected. If the withdrawal was made after application, then it has no effect.
(Mariwasa Siam Ceramics vs. Sec of Labor et al, GR 183317, 21 December 2009)
Chartered Local
• Compared to an independent union, registration of a chartered local has
only 3 requirements:

• Charter certificate issued by the federation or national union

• Names of the officers, their addresses and principal office of the chartered local
• Charter’s constitution and by-laws

• The legal personality of the chartered local becomes a reality upon issuance
of certificate of registration. However, the mere issuance of a charter
certificate gives the chartered local tentative legal personality to file a
petition for certification election.
Affiliation
• An affiliate may refer to:

• Am independent union who enters into an affiliation agreement with a federation or

national union
• Or a chartered local.

• The question of what affiliation means is answered by the reasons why unions
enter into an affiliation agreement.

• It creates a principal-agent relationship. The principal is the affiliate and the

agent is the national union or federation.
Disaffiliation
• An independent union can always disaffiliate from the mother union. A
chartered local cannot because its legal personality is derived from the
mother union (unless, of course, it registers itself as an independent union)

• Why disaffiliate?

• When to disaffiliate?

• How to disaffiliate?
Merger/Consolidation
• This refers to merger and consolidation of unions, not of employers.

• It is required that the surviving union (merged or consolidated) must

file a notice of merger/consolidation with the BLR.
Cancellation of Registration
• Based on your assessment ratings, this seems to be an easy sub-topic.

• However, a question was raised about voluntary dissolution. What if

the members voted for dissolution but the leadership won’t act on it.
What gives?
Collective Bargaining Unit
• Who determines appropriateness?

• Factors to be determined?

• Globe Doctrine (after factors, then globe doctrine)