TUPAS v. NHA

TUPAS v. NHA

G.R. No. L-49677 May 4, 1989

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, otherwise known as the Uniform Charter of Government Corporations, dated January 1, 1951. Its shares of stock are and have been 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) 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. It was claimed that its members comprised the majority of the employees of the corporation. The petition was dismissed by med-arbiter Eusebio M. Jimenez in an order, dated November 7, 1977, 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.”

From this order of dismissal, TUPAS appealed to the Bureau of Labor Relations where Director Carmelo C. Noriel reversed the order of dismissal and ordered the holding of a certification election. This order was, however, set aside by Officer-in-Charge Virgilio S.J. Sy in his resolution of November 21, 1978 upon a motion for reconsideration of respondent NHC.

Issue:

                whether or not the employees of NHA are not covered by Civil Service law, rules and regulations and have therefore the right to unionize

Held:

                Yes. The civil service now covers only government owned or controlled corporations with original or legislative charters, that is, those created by an act of Congress or by special law, and not those incorporated under and pursuant to a general legislation. The Civil Service does not include government-owned or controlled corporations which are organized as subsidiaries of government-owned or controlled corporations under the general corporation law.

                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.

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.