GR 46727; (September, 1939) (Digest)
G.R. No. 46727 ; September 27, 1939
PAMBUSCO EMPLOYEES’ UNION, INC., petitioner, vs. THE COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS and PAMPANGA BUS COMPANY, INC., respondents.
FACTS
The Pambusco Employees’ Union filed a petition with the Pampanga Bus Company (Pambusco) containing thirteen demands. After a strike and mediation, five unresolved demands, including a claim for back overtime pay for drivers under the Eight-Hour Labor Law ( Act No. 4123 , as amended by Act No. 4242 ), were submitted to the Court of Industrial Relations (CIR). The CIR denied the claim for back overtime pay. It found that both before and after the law’s extension to drivers, numerous Pambusco drivers themselves petitioned government authorities requesting non-enforcement of the eight-hour limit, citing personal convenience and to avoid disruption. The company also paid additional monthly compensation to drivers on routes exceeding eight hours. The Department of Labor advised bus companies to apply for a readjustment of working hours under the law and held enforcement in abeyance pending resolution, which never conclusively came.
ISSUE
Whether the Pambusco drivers are entitled to back overtime pay under the Eight-Hour Labor Law.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court denied the petition and upheld the CIR’s decision. The Court found that the drivers, through their own voluntary and repeated petitions, sought non-enforcement of the law, preferring their existing schedule and the additional pay provided by the company. Both parties (the union and the company) had effectively disregarded the law’s provisions. Applying principles of equity, and citing the rule that a party who violates the law cannot seek its aid, the Court declined to grant the claim for back overtime. The CIR’s factual findings, made under its mandate to act according to justice and equity, were not disturbed.
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