G.R. No. L-2844 April 27, 1951
LUY-A ALLIED WORKERS’ ASSOCIATION, petitioner, vs. THE COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS and PHILIPPINE LABOR FEDERATION, CEBU BRANCH, respondents.

FACTS

On April 21, 1948, the petitioner Luy-A Allied Workers’ Association, representing 458 members working for the Bogo-Medellin Milling Co., Inc., entered into a collective bargaining and union shop agreement with the company. This agreement contained a clause recognizing the association as “the sole and exclusive collective bargaining agency for labor” in the operation of the sugar mill, covering all departments and sections, including laborers operating farm tractors hired by sugar planters. The members of the respondent Philippine Labor Federation, Cebu Branch, numbering 185, were also working for the milling company before, during, and after this contract was executed and were not represented by the Luy-A association. On May 28, 1948, the Federation’s members presented a petition to the milling company asking for increased wages and better working conditions. As no agreement was reached, the question was submitted to the Court of Industrial Relations. The Luy-A association intervened, moving to dismiss the Federation’s petition on the ground that its existing contract with the company excluded any other contract with any other entity. The Court of Industrial Relations overruled the opposition and denied the motion to dismiss, prompting the Luy-A association to bring the case to the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether the members of the Philippine Labor Federation can be deprived of their rights to petition for higher wages and better working conditions by a contract entered into between the milling company and the Luy-A Allied Workers’ Association, to which they are not parties.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition of the Luy-A Allied Workers’ Association. The Court held that the contract between the Luy-A association and the milling company could not legally deprive the members of the Philippine Labor Federation of their right to ask for higher wages and better working conditions. Such deprivation could amount to expelling them from the company’s service without just cause, as ignoring their demands and denying them recourse to the Court of Industrial Relations might force them to sever their connection with the company. The laws recognize and protect the rights of laborers to petition for better conditions, resort to the courts, and even to strike in proper cases as part of the right to petition. Labor laws were enacted to protect these rights, and this fundamental human right cannot be nullified by a contract to which the concerned laborers are not parties. Costs were awarded against the petitioner.