Right of Non-Employees to Self-Organization

Persons who are not employees of a company are not entitled to the constitutional right to join or form a labor organization for purposes of collective bargaining. The question of whether employer-employee relationship exists is a primordial consideration before extending labor benefits under the workmen's compensation, social security, medicare, termination pay and labor relations law. It is important in the determination of who shall be included in a proposed bargaining unit because, it is the sine qua non, the fundamental and essential condition that a bargaining unit be composed of employees. Failure to establish this juridical relationship between the union members and the employer affects the legality of the union itself. It means the ineligibility of the union members to present a petition for certification election as well as to vote therein. (Singer Sewing Machine Co. v. Drilon; G.R. No. 91307)