Litton Mills Vs Calleja
Litton Mills Vs Calleja
Petitioners lodged a complaint against Umali and LMI before the "As to the second issue, it appearing that the
med-arbiter section of the National Capital Region of the Department impeachment of respondent Umali is adjudged to be
of Labor and Employment, praying that, after notice and hearing, an without valid ground, the union security clause of the
order be issued declaring as valid the impeachment of Rodolfo existing CBA does not apply. Hence, the prayer of the
Umali and that respondent company be ordered to comply with Sec. complainants to terminate the employment of Rodolfo
5, par. b Article IV of the CBA, by terminating the employment of
1
Based on the syllabus of Atty. Maria Christina S. Sagmit
Ateneo De Davao University S.Y. 2020-2021
Digested by: Ampatuan, Ampog,Banosan,Esmael,Frias,Mahusay,Malicay,Paclibar,Peῆamante,Picot,Sinsuat,Sosoban,
Labor Relations
Case Digest Compilation
Umali with Litton Mills, Inc. should not be given due charge of the petitioners as to the questioned 161 signatures; neither
course." has he denied that the union members who opposed the affiliation
were more than those who supported it. Hence, this Court finds that
Petitioners appealed the Med-Arbiter’s order to the public the affiliation of the petitioner-union with GATFORD was done
respondent, who, in a Resolution, dated 13 February 1987, by Umali without the support of the majority of the union
dismissed the appeal for lack of merit, and affirmed in toto the order membership.
of the Med-Arbiter. Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration was
denied in an order. UNION’S STATUS: LOCAL OF A LABOR FEDERATION
Furthermore, the Court notes that the collective bargaining
Issue: WON VP Umali’s membership in the union is lost because of agreement of the petitioner-union (LMEA-K) with LMI was to expire
his act of affiliating the union with GATCORD. YES. only on 31 October 1987, whereas, Umali affiliated the union around
[But in this case the issue was rendered Moot and Academic August 1986, or about 14 months before the expiration of said CBA.
because Abong and the rest of the members already formed a new The affiliation of the petitioner-union with GATCORD converted the
union] former’s status from that of an independent union to that of a local of
a labor federation. Such change in status not only affects the identity
Ruling: The controversy, in the case at bar stems from respondent of the petitioner-union but also its powers, duties and privileges, for
Umali’s act of affiliating the petitioner-union with GATCORD, which as a local, it will have to contend with and consult the federation, in
caused the union officers to impeach Umali for disloyalty to the matters affecting the union.
union.
The act of affiliating with a federation is a major modification in the
The impeachment is anchored on a provision in the petitioner- status of the petition-union. And such act is a violation of the rule
union’s Constitution and By-Laws, which reads as follows: that no modification of the CBA can be made during its existence,
unless either party serves written notice to terminate or modify the
"Art. IV, Section 5. Membership may be lost under the following agreement at least sixty (60) days prior to its expiration date. Hence,
grounds: there was a violation of the existing CBA, on the part of Umali.
x x x
IMPEACHMENT
b) Organizing or joining another labor union or any federation. As to the impeachment of a union officer, Section 2, Article XV of the
petitioner-union’s Constitution and By-Laws provides the procedures
x x x (Emphasis supplied) to be followed, to wit:
(1) Impeachment should be initiated by petition signed by
One of the grounds for losing membership in the union, as at least 30% of all bona fide members of the union, and
aforestated, is by joining a federation. addressed to the Chairman of the Executive Board; (b) A
general membership meeting shall be convened by the
UMALI AFFILIATED THE UNION WITH GATCORD Board Chairman to consider the impeachment of an
There is no dispute in the present case that GATCORD is a labor officer; (c) Before any impeachment vote is finally taken,
federation, to which respondent Umali affiliated the petitioner-union the union officer against whom impeachment charges
as evidenced by have been filed shall be given ample opportunity to defend
mimeographed leaflets he caused to be distributed among the himself; and (d) A majority of all the members of the union
union-members, urging them to continue affiliating with shall be required to impeach or recall union officers.
GATCORD,
the Pledge of Allegiance of newly-appointed Shop Steward It clearly appears that the above cited procedure was not followed by
Norberto David, and the letter of Umali to LMI, the last two (2) the petitioners when they impeached Umali. To be sure, there was
being attested to by GATCORD’s National President Timoteo difficulty on the part of the petitioners in complying with the required
Aranjuez, and procedure for impeachment, considering that the petition to impeach
the fact that the letter was written on paper with GATCORD’s had to be addressed to the Chairman of the Executive Board of the
letterhead. Union, and that the majority membership which would decide on the
Also, the affiliation of the petitioner-union with GATCORD was impeachment had to be convened only upon call of the Chairman of
affirmed by Umali himself, when he presented the alleged 700 the Executive Board who, in the case at bar, happened to be
signatures of union-members who supported his move of affiliating respondent Umali himself.
the union (LMEA-K) with GATCORD.
Nevertheless, despite the practical difficulties in complying with the
Hence, it cannot be denied that Umali did not only propose the said procedure, petitioners should have shown substantial
affiliation, but in fact affiliated the petitioner-union with GATCORD, in compliance with said impeachment procedure, by giving Umali
contravention of the above-cited prohibition in Section 5, Article IV of ample opportunity to defend himself, as contrasted to an outright
the petitioner-union’s Constitution and By-Laws. impeachment, right after he failed to appear before the first and only
investigation scheduled on 27 August 1986 in the Litton Canteen.
CONSENT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE UNION
And yet, if the act of Umali in affiliating the petitioner-union with The above conclusions notwithstanding, the Court believes that the
GATCORD, is with the consent of a majority of the union union-members themselves know what is best for them, i.e., whether
membership, then any violation of the petitioner-union’s Constitution they still want respondent Umali as their Union President, and
and By-Laws becomes of little consequence. It will appear in such whether they wish to affiliate their union with GATCORD. And, the
case that the union itself has ratified the act of affiliation. It will be best and most appropriate means of ascertaining the will of the
noted that Umali, albeit belatedly, presented the signatures of 700 union members is through a certification election.
members of the union, as proof of the support he had from them for
the union’s affiliation with GATCORD. MOOT AND ACADEMIC
Consistent with the foregoing observations, it appears from the
On the other hand, petitioners presented 725 signatures, or 65.9% of record that a group of employees headed by petitioner Rogelio
the entire union membership, who signed the "Sama-Samang Abong broke away from the petitioner-union and formed a new
Kapasiyahan", as proof of those who opposed the affiliation, in union, called Litton Mills Workers Union, and that in a certification
addition to petitioners’ allegation that out of the 700 signatures election that followed, said Litton Mills Workers Union, headed by
presented by Umali, 161 signatures were either forged or faked, petitioner Abong, was chosen as the collective bargaining agent.
twice or thrice written, or signatures of already resigned employees.
Because of this supervening event, it now appears clear that the
This Court takes notice of the fact that in all of the pleadings majority of the heretofore members of petitioner-union (LMEA-K) do
submitted by respondent Umali, he never bothered to refute the not wish respondent Umali to continue as their president; neither do
they wish their union to be affiliated with the GATCORD federation.
2
Based on the syllabus of Atty. Maria Christina S. Sagmit
Ateneo De Davao University S.Y. 2020-2021
Digested by: Ampatuan, Ampog,Banosan,Esmael,Frias,Mahusay,Malicay,Paclibar,Peῆamante,Picot,Sinsuat,Sosoban,
Labor Relations
Case Digest Compilation
Consequently, the issues in this petition have become moot and
academic.
3
Based on the syllabus of Atty. Maria Christina S. Sagmit
Ateneo De Davao University S.Y. 2020-2021
Digested by: Ampatuan, Ampog,Banosan,Esmael,Frias,Mahusay,Malicay,Paclibar,Peῆamante,Picot,Sinsuat,Sosoban,