Case Digest: Fadriquelan, et al. v. Monterey Foods Corporation

G.R. No. 178409: June 8, 2011

YOLITO FADRIQUELAN, et al., Petitioners, v. MONTEREY FOODS CORPORATION, Respondent.

ABAD,J.:


FACTS:

On April 30, 2002 the three-year CBA between the union Bukluran ng Manggagawa sa Monterey-Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa (the union) and Monterey Foods Corporation (the company) expired. On March 28, 2003 after the negotiation for a new CBA reached a deadlock, the union filed a notice of strike with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB). To head off the strike, on April 30, 2003 the company filed with the DOLE a petition for assumption of jurisdiction over the dispute in view of its dire effects on the meat industry. In an Order dated May 12, 2003, the DOLE Secretary assumed jurisdiction over the dispute and enjoined the union from holding any strike. It also directed the union and the company to desist from taking any action that may aggravate the situation.

On May 21, 2003 the union filed a second notice of strike before the NCMB on the alleged ground that the company committed unfair labor practices. On June 10, 2003 the company sent notices to the union officers, charging them with intentional acts of slowdown. Six days later or on June 16 the company sent new notices to the union officers, informing them of their termination from work for defying the DOLE Secretary's assumption order.

On June 23, 2003, the DOLE Secretary included the unions second notice of strike in his earlier assumption order. But, on the same day, the union filed a third notice of strike based on allegations that the company had engaged in union busting and illegal dismissal of union officers. On July 7, 2003 the company filed a petition for certification of the labor dispute to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration but the DOLE Secretary denied the motion. He, however, subsumed the third notice of strike under the first and second notices.

The DOLE upheld the company's termination of the 17 union officers. On appeal, the CA upheld the validity of the company's termination of 10 union officers but declaring illegal that of the other seven. Both parties sought recourse to this Court, the union in G.R. 178409 and the company in G.R. 178434.

ISSUES:

Whether or not the CA erred in holding that slowdowns actually transpired at the company's farms; and

Whether or not the CA erred in holding that union officers committed illegal acts that warranted their dismissal from work.


HELD: The decision of the Court of Appeals is overruled.

LABOR LAW

No strike shall be declared after the Secretary of Labor has assumed jurisdiction over a labor dispute. A strike conducted after such assumption is illegal and any union officer who knowingly participates in the same may be declared as having lost his employment. Labor Code, Article 264 (a).

Here, what is involved is a slowdown strike. Unlike other forms of strike, the employees involved in a slowdown do not walk out of their jobs to hurt the company. They need only to stop work or reduce the rate of their work while generally remaining in their assigned post.

The Court finds that the union officers and members in this case held a slowdown strike at the company's farms despite the fact that the DOLE Secretary had on May 12, 2003 already assumed jurisdiction over their labor dispute. The evidence sufficiently shows that union officers and members simultaneously stopped work at the company's Batangas and Cavite farms at 7:00 a.m. on May 26, 2003.

LABOR LAW

The ordinary worker cannot be terminated for merely participating in the strike. There must be proof that he committed illegal acts during its conduct. On the other hand, a union officer can be terminated upon mere proof that he knowingly participated in the illegal strike.

Still, the participating union officers have to be properly identified.The CA held that the company illegally terminated union officers Ruben Alvarez, John Asotigue, Alberto Castillo, Nemesio Agtay, Carlito Abacan, Danilo Rolle, and Juanito Tenorio, there being no substantial evidence that would connect them to the slowdowns. The CA said that their part in the same could not be established with certainty.

The Court sustains the validity of the termination of the rest of the union officers. The identity and participations of petitioners in the slowdowns were properly established. These officers simply refused to work or they abandoned their work to join union assemblies.

In termination cases, the dismissed employee is not required to prove his innocence of the charges against him. The burden of proof rests upon the employer to show that the employees dismissal was for just cause. The employers failure to do so means that the dismissal was not justified.Here, the company failed to show that all 17 union officers deserved to be dismissed.