GR 84685; (February, 1990) (Digest)
G.R. No. 84685 February 23, 1990
ILAW AT BUKLOD NG MANGGAGAWA (IBM) LOCAL NO. 56, petitioner, vs. HON. PURA FERRER-CALLEJA, in her capacity as Director, BUREAU OF LABOR RELATIONS, and SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa (IBM) Local No. 56, a local union within the Calasiao (later Dagupan) Beer Region of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), requested voluntary recognition from SMC as the sole and exclusive bargaining representative for all covered employees in the region on September 7, 1987. SMC denied this request and instead suggested the union avail itself of a certification election. Subsequently, on November 27, 1987, SMC itself filed a petition for a certification election, but limited the proposed bargaining unit to sales personnel across the entire beer region, excluding other daily and monthly-paid employees. The union moved to dismiss SMC’s petition, arguing it was premature under Article 258 of the Labor Code, as the union had not formally requested SMC to bargain collectively.
The Med-Arbiter ordered a certification election among the specified sales force personnel. The union’s appeal to the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) was denied. The certification election was eventually held, resulting in a “No Union” vote. Petitioner then filed this special civil action for certiorari, alleging grave abuse of discretion by the BLR Director in ordering the election.
ISSUE
Whether the public respondents committed grave abuse of discretion in granting SMC’s petition for and ordering a certification election.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, finding no grave abuse of discretion. The Court clarified the legal mechanics of certification in an unorganized establishment. A union’s request for voluntary recognition from an employer is, in substance, a request to be certified as the employees’ bargaining representative. However, an employer lacks the authority to grant such certification; the choice of representative is the sole prerogative of the employees themselves, exercised through a certification election.
Consequently, the union’s act of asking for voluntary recognition constituted, in effect, a request to bargain collectively or the initial step toward collective bargaining. This triggered the employer’s right under Article 258 of the Labor Code to petition the Bureau for an election once such a request is made. Therefore, SMC’s petition for certification election was legally proper and timely. The orders of the Med-Arbiter and the BLR Director were in strict accordance with the law, aimed at determining the true will of the employees, and thus were issued without any arbitrariness or grave abuse of discretion.