G.R. No. L-48415, November 7, 1941
International Oil Factory, Petitioner, vs. National Labor Union, Inc., et al., Respondents.

FACTS

The case originated from Industrial Case No. 166 before the Court of Industrial Relations (CIR), titled “National Labor Union Inc. contra International Oil Factory.” The petitioner, International Oil Factory, challenges the validity of the CIR’s amended decision dated May 23, 1941, which modified its earlier decision of April 16, 1941. The core dispute involves the demand of thirty (30) female workers, members of the respondent union, for a wage increase. While the case was pending with the Department of Labor, most demands (such as better water, toilet, washing facilities, and an eight-hour workday) were amicably settled. The sole unresolved issue certified by the Secretary of Labor to the CIR was the workers’ demand for a general wage increase, which the company refused. The CIR, after personal inspection of the factory and consideration of the work performed, the current state of the business, wages paid by analogous enterprises, and the insufficiency of the current minimum wages (some as low as P0.40 to P0.50 per day) to meet basic living needs, ordered wage adjustments. Its final decision set a minimum daily wage of seventy-five centavos (P0.75) for the thirty regular female workers who were transferred among different departments (Tin, Carton Filling, Lard and Margarine Departments) as needed. For new female apprentices, it set a graduated wage scale: P0.50 for the first three months, P0.60 for the next three months, and P0.75 thereafter. The petitioner contends that the CIR lacked jurisdiction because the specific wage demand of the female workers had been previously settled amicably and was not properly certified by the Department of Labor.

ISSUE

1. Whether the Court of Industrial Relations had jurisdiction to hear and decide the case, specifically regarding the wage increase demand of the thirty female workers.
2. Whether the wage rates fixed by the CIR were reasonable.

RULING

1. On Jurisdiction: The Supreme Court ruled that the CIR had jurisdiction. The Secretary of Labor’s certification explicitly stated that after a series of conferences, the only remaining issue for the CIR’s determination was the general increase in wages, which the company denied. The petitioner’s claim that this specific demand was not certified is unfounded and untenable. Furthermore, the petitioner is estopped from raising this issue because it admitted, through its own motion that led to the amended decision, that the wage increase was the very issue being litigated in the original case.
2. On the Reasonableness of the Wage Fixing: The Supreme Court upheld the wage rates fixed by the CIR as not only good but also just, sufficient, and well-founded. The CIR properly considered all necessary factors: the nature of the work in each department, the effort required, the current state and prospects of the business, wages paid for similar work in analogous enterprises, and the critical fact that the current minimum wages of P0.40 to P0.50 per day were insufficient to cover the most pressing necessities of life. The Court agreed that with wages lower than those set, a worker could scarcely maintain herself, let alone a family, in the city or its suburbs where everything must be purchased. Therefore, the classification and fixing of wage rates were not unreasonable.
The Supreme Court confirmed the CIR’s decisions of April 16, 1941, and May 23, 1941, with costs against the petitioner.