Employees of GOCC are not prohibited to form, join or assist any labor organization for purpose of collective bargaining

G.R. No. L-49677 May 4, 1989
TRADE UNIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES AND ALLIED SERVICES vs. NATIONAL HOUSING CORPORATION
REGALADO, J.:

 

Facts;

Respondent National Housing Corporation (hereinafter referred to as NHC) is a corporation organized in 1959 in accordance with Executive Order No. 399, one hundred percent (100%) owned by the Government from its incorporation under Act 459, the former corporation law. The government entities that own its shares of stock are the Government Service Insurance System, the Social Security System, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the National Investment and Development Corporation and the People's Homesite and Housing Corporation. Petitioner Trade Unions of the Philippines and Allied Services (TUPAS, for brevity) is a legitimate labor organization with a chapter in NHC.

 

On July 13, 1977, TUPAS filed a petition for the conduct of a certification election with Regional Office No. IV of the Department of Labor in order to determine the exclusive bargaining representative of the workers in NHC

 

The petition was dismissed by med-arbiter holding that NHC "being a government-owned and/or controlled corporation its employees/workers are prohibited to form, join or assist any labor organization for purposes of collective bargaining pursuant to Section 1, Rule II, Book V of the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Labor Code."

 

Issue:  Whether or not a GOCC are prohibited to form. Join or assist any labor organization for purpose of collective bargaining.

 

Held:  No. The workers or employees of NHC undoubtedly have the right to form unions or employees' organizations. The right to unionize or to form organizations is now explicitly recognized and granted to employees in both the governmental and the private sectors. The Bill of Rights provides that "(t)he right of the people, including those employed in the public and private sectors, to form unions, associations or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged"

 

This guarantee is reiterated in the second paragraph of Section 3, Article XIII, on Social Justice and Human Rights,  and the right to unionize is recognized in Paragraph (5), Section 2, Article IX B 12

 

There is, therefore, no impediment to the holding of a certification election among the workers of NHC for it is clear that they are covered by the Labor Code, the NHC being a government-owned and/or controlled corporation without an original charter. Statutory implementation of the last cited section of the Constitution is found in Article 244 of the Labor Code, as amended by Executive Order No. 111, thus:

 

... Right of employees in the public service — Employees of the government corporations established under the Corporation Code shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively with their respective employers. All other employees in the civil service shall have the right to form associations for purposes not contrary to law.

 

Note: Applied only to a GOCC without original charter.  Please Check!