G.R. Nos. 169829-30; April 16, 2008
STEEL CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES, petitioner, vs. SCP EMPLOYEES UNION-NATIONAL FEDERATION OF LABOR UNIONS, respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Steel Corporation of the Philippines (SCP) faced multiple union representation petitions. Initially, the Court of Appeals (CA) in a prior case (CA-G.R. SP No. 55721) annulled a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) order and directed a certification election with only “FUEL-GAS” and “NO UNION” as choices, excluding respondent SCP Employees Union (SCPEU). However, before this CA decision became final, a separate certification election was conducted on April 14, 2000, pursuant to an earlier Med-Arbiter’s order, wherein SCPEU emerged as the winner. The DOLE Undersecretary subsequently certified SCPEU as the exclusive bargaining agent. SCP refused to bargain, arguing the pending CA case nullified SCPEU’s certification. This refusal led SCPEU to file notices of strike for unfair labor practice (ULP).
The labor dispute was certified for compulsory arbitration. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) initially ruled that SCP had no duty to bargain with SCPEU and declared a subsequent strike illegal. However, in a later certified case, a different NLRC division ordered SCP to bargain with SCPEU. The Court of Appeals consolidated these cases and ultimately upheld the NLRC’s order for SCP to bargain collectively with SCPEU and declared the February 2003 strike illegal.

ISSUE

The primary issue is whether SCP committed unfair labor practice by refusing to bargain collectively with SCPEU, which had been certified as the bargaining agent by the DOLE, despite a pending judicial challenge to that certification.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision. The legal logic rests on the finality and execution of labor orders and the duty to bargain upon certification. The Court held that the DOLE Undersecretary’s October 16, 2000 Decision, which certified SCPEU as the exclusive bargaining agent, became final and executory when SCP’s motion for reconsideration was denied on February 27, 2001. This certification created an immediate obligation for SCP to bargain with SCPEU. The pendency of SCP’s appeal via certiorari of the CA’s earlier decision (which had ordered a different election) did not suspend this obligation. A certification order is immediately executory, and the employer must recognize and bargain with the certified union unless a restraining order is issued. No such order was secured here.
Consequently, SCP’s refusal to bargain upon receipt of the CBA proposals constituted unfair labor practice under Article 248(g) of the Labor Code. The Court also affirmed the illegality of the February 2003 strike. While the refusal to bargain was a valid strikeable issue, the strike was declared after the dispute had been certified to the NLRC for compulsory arbitration. Article 263 of the Labor Code expressly prohibits a strike once the Secretary of Labor has assumed jurisdiction or certified the dispute, rendering the strike illegal.