Labor Law Review |Sobrevinas | August December 2014|Page
003_LVN Pictures Inc. v.
Philippine Musicians Guild January 28, 1961 J. Concepcion Jerome Marcelo
SUMMARY: The Phil. Musicians Guild filed in the Court of
Industrial Relations a petition for certification as the sole and exclusive bargaining agency for all musicians working in 3 film companies. To defeat this petition, it was alleged that the musicians were not employees of the film companies, but worked for independent contractors called musical directors. CIR: There is an employer-employee relationship. Petition for certification is meritorious. SC: CIR affirmed. DOCTRINE: An employer-employee relationship exists where the person for whom the services are performed reserves a right to control not only the end to be achieved but also the means to be used in reaching such end. The decisive nature of said control over the "means to be used" is illustrated in the Gilchrist Timber case in which, by reason of said control, the employer-employee relationship was held to exist between the management and the workers, notwithstanding the intervention of an alleged independent contractor, who had, and exercised, the power to hire and fire said workers.
make music recordings without which a motion picture is
incomplete; that 95% of the musicians playing for said companies are members of the Guild; and that the Guild has no knowledge of the existence of any other legitimate labor organization representing them. The 3 companies denied that they have any musicians as employees, and alleged that the musical numbers in the filming of the companies are furnished by independent contractors called musical directors. CIR: Theory of the Guild is sustained. The Guild is certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining agency of all musicians working with said companies. A reconsideration of the order having been denied by the Court en banc, only LVN and Sampaguita filed these petitions for review by certiorari. ISSUE/HELD 1. WON the musicians are employees of the film companies. YES
FACTS: The Philippine Musicians Guild (Guild) filed a petition
before the Court of Industrial Relations (CIR), praying that it be certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining agency for all musicians working in LVN Pictures, Inc. (LVN) and Sampaguita Pictures, Inc. (Sampaguita) and Premiere Productions, Inc..
RATIO: Apart from impugning the conclusion of the CIR on the
status of the Guild members as alleged employees, LVN maintains that a petition for certification cannot be entertained when the existence of employer-employee relationship between the parties is contested. However, this claim is neither borne out by any legal provision nor supported by any authority. So long as, after due hearing, the parties are found to bear said relationship, it is proper to pass upon the merits of the petition for certification. The real issue in these cases, is whether or not the musicians in question are employees of the film companies.
The Guild averred that it is a duly registered legitimate labor
organization; that LVN, Sampaguita and Premiere Productions are corporations engaged in the making, processing and distribution of motion pictures; that said companies employ musicians to
The musical directors above referred to have no such control over
the musicians involved here. The musical directors control neither the music to be played, nor the musicians playing it. The film companies summon the musicians to work, through the
Labor Law Review |Sobrevinas | August December 2014|Page
musical directors. The film companies, through the musical directors, fix the date, the time and the place of work. The film companies, not the musical directors, provide the transportation to and from the studio. The film companies furnish meals at dinner time. Also, during the recording sessions, the motion picture director who is an employee of the company, not the musical director, supervises the recording of the musicians and tells them what to do in every detail. The motion picture director, not the musical director, solely directs the performance of the musicians before the camera. The motion picture director supervises the performance of all the actors, including the musicians who appear in the scenes, so that in the actual performance to be shown in the screen, the musical director's intervention has stopped. The movie director directly controls the activities of the musicians. It is well settled that an employer-employee relationship exists where the person for whom the services are performed reserves a right to control not only the end to be achieved but also the means to be used in reaching such end (Alabama Highway Express). The decisive nature of said control over the "means to be used" is illustrated in the case of Gilchrist Timber Co. in which, by reason of said control, the employer-employee relationship was held to exist between the management and the workers, notwithstanding the intervention of an alleged independent contractor, who had, and exercised, the power to hire and fire said workers. The aforementioned control over the means to be used in reading the desired end is possessed and exercised by the film companies over the musicians in the cases before us. RULING: The order appealed from is affirmed, with costs against petitioners.