Victoriano vs Elizalde Rope Workers Union Political Law Primacy of the Constitution over Contractual Rights Victoriano, an Iglesia

a ni Cristo member, has been an employee of the Elizalde Rope Factory since !"#$ %e &as also a member of the E'WU$ Under the C() bet&een ERF and E'WU, a close shop agreement is being enforced &hich means that employment in the factory relies on the membership in the E'WU* that in order to retain employment in the said factory one m+st be a member of the said Union$ In !,-, Victoriano tendered his resignation from E'WU claiming that as per R) .."/ he is an e0emption to the close shop agreement by virt+e of his being a member of the I1C beca+se apparently in the I1C, one is forbidden from being a member of any labor +nion$ It &as only in !23 that his resignation from the Union &as acted +pon by E'WU &hich notified ERF abo+t it$ ERF then moved to terminate Victoriano d+e to his non4membership from the E'WU$ E'WU and ERF reiterated that he is not e0empt from the close shop agreement beca+se R) .."/ is +nconstit+tional and that said la& violates the E'WU5s and ERF5s legal6contract+al rights$ ISSUE: Whether or not R) .."/ is +nconstit+tional$ HELD: 7he right to religion prevails over contract+al or legal rights$ )s s+ch, an I1C member may ref+se to 8oin a labor +nion and despite the fact that there is a close shop agreement in the factory &here he &as employed, his employment co+ld not be validly terminated for his non4membership in the ma8ority therein$ F+rther, the right to 8oin a +nion incl+des the right not to 8oin a +nion$ 7he la& is not +nconstit+tional$ It recognizes both the rights of +nions and employers to enforce terms of contracts and at the same time it recognizes the &orkers5 right to 8oin or not to 8oin +nion$ (+t the R) recognizes as &ell the primacy of a constit+tional right over a contract+al right$