PART 3 CONSEQUENCES OF CONCERTED ACTIVITIES

Strikers Retention of Employment

-

Effects of employment are merely suspended during that time the

workers do not work and do not get paid
When the strike is over employees go back to work and the effects of
employer-employee relationship is resumed

Art. 578 of the Labor Code:

Mere participation of a worker in a lawful strike shall not constitute
sufficient ground for termination of his employment, even if a
replacement had been hired by the employer during such lawful
strike.
As to Illegal Strike a finding of illegality of strike should not be
automatically followed by wholesale dismissal of striking workers from
their employment
Strikers Loss of Employment
-

Civil and criminal laws are not suspended during a strike

Anyone who commits an illegal act, whether a union officer or a
member, is civilly or criminally liable no matter whether the strike is
legal or not
The commission of illegal acts, including coercion, grave threats,
intimidation is reason enough to terminate the employment of such
striker-employee
An ordinary striking worker cannot be terminated for mere
participation in an illegal strike unless there is proof that he committed
illegal acts during a strike
A union officer may be terminated from work when he knowingly
participates in an illegal strike or when he commits an illegal act during
the strike

Illegal Acts
1. Violation of Article 278 (e) of the Labor Code
(e) No person engaged in picketing shall commit any act of violence,
coercion, or intimidation or obstruct the free ingress to or egress from
the employers premises for lawful purposes or obstruct public
thoroughfares.

2. Commission of crimes and other unlawful acts in carrying out the

strike; and
3. Violation of any order, prohibition or injunction issued by the DOLE
Secretary or NLRC in connection with the assumption of
jurisdiction/certification order under Article 277 (q) of the Labor Code.
Consequence of a Strike
DISMISSABLE
LEGAL STRIKE ILLEGAL STRIKE
1. Participation in Strike
Union Officer
No
Union Member
No
2. Commission of Illegal Acts in a Strike
Union Officer
Yes
Union Member
Yes

Yes
No
Yes
Yes

Union Officers or Leaders

-

The union officers had the duty to guide their members to respect the
law. Instead, they urged them to violate the law and defy the duly
authorized authorities. Their responsibility is greater than that of the
members. Their dismissal from the service is a just penalty for their
unlawful acts.

Shop Stewards are Union Officers

-

Appointed by the Union in a shop, department or plant serves as

representative of the Union, charged with negotiating and adjustment
of grievance of employees with the supervision of the employer
Representative of the Union members in a building or workplace
Union official who represents members in a particular department

Union Member
-

Participated in committing illegal acts through as strike (whether legal

or illegal) may lose his employment status

Declaration of Illegality of Strike

-

Not a prerequisite to dismissal of illegal strikers

Exception: If there is a pending case at NLRC

By filing a formal complaint for illegal strike, it behooved the petitioner

(employer) to desist from undertaking its own investigation on the
same matter, concluding upon the illegality of the union activity and
dismissing outright the union officers involved

GOOD-FAITH STRIKE
-

A strike may be justified by belief in good faith that the employer was
committing ULP at the time the strikers went on strike
Good faith saves the strike from being declared illegal and the strikers
from being declared to have lost their employment status

Ferrer vs. CIR

Both parties have performed acts which understandably included each
other to believe that the other party was guilty of ULP.
Strikers in question has been called to offset what petitioners were
warranted in believing in good faith to be ULP or the part of the
management, that petitioners were not bound, therefore, to wait for the
expiration of 30 days from notice of strike before staging the same, and
that the strikers had not thereby lost their status as employees of
respondents
What was involved was a defective strike, that is, one conducted in
violation of the 30-day cooling-off period, but one carried out in good
faith to offset what petitioners were warranted in believing in good faith
to be ULP committed by Management.
Strike which is illegal and not marred with Good Faith
- Strikers forfeit their employment
Reliance Security and Insurance vs. NLRC
A strike that was illegal in more ways than one, the reinstated
union officers were clearly in bad faith, and to reinstate them without,
indeed, loss of seniority rights, is to reward them for an act public
policy does not sanction.
Forfeiture of Reinstatement
-

The Court had occasion to rule that striker who failed to report for
work when one had the opportunity to do so waived thereby his rights
to reinstatement

If, during a strike, a striking employee has found another job, is he entitled
to reinstatement?
It is for the Board in each case to weigh the particular facts and to
determine, in the exercise of wise administrative discretion, whether the act
would best be effectuated by directing reinstatement despite the fact that
the given employees had found equivalent employment.
Discrimination in Readmission of Strikers
-

The company separated the active from the loss active unionists on
the basis of their militancy, or lack of it, on the picket lines
If active refused readmission even after they were able to secure
clearances
Discrimination undoubtedly exists where the record shows that the
union activity of the rehired strikers has been less prominent than that
of the strikers who were denied reinstatement
Employer committed ULP

Exaction of promise or clearances from returning strikers

- The exaction by the Company from the strikers returning to work of a
promise not to destroy company property and not to commit acts of
reprisal against the union members who did not participate in the
strike cannot be considered as intended to encourage or discourage
union membership done only as an act of self preservation and
designed to insure the maintenance of peace and order in the
Company
BACKWAGES
General Rule: No Backwages in Strike
1. Economic Strike
-

Strikers are not entitled to backwages on the principle that a

labor fair days wage accrues only for a fair days labor

Alternative: when a laborer absents himself from work because of a

strike or to attend to a conference or hearing in a case or incident
between him and his employer, he might:
a. Seek reimbursement of his wages from his union which had
declared strike or filed the case in the industrial court; or
b. Charged his absence from work against his vacation leave.

2. Unfair Labor Practice

Types of employees involved:
a. Discriminately dismissed for union activities
o Entitled to reinstatement
o Received backpay from the date of the act of discrimination,
that, is from the day of their discharge
b. Voluntarily went on strike even if it is protest of an ULP
o Entitled to reinstatement
Exception to Reinstatement:
Those even discriminatorily discharged, but because of:
i.
Unlawful conduct; or
ii.
Because of violence
o No backwages because the stoppage of work was not direct
consequence of the companies ULP
o Economic loss of the employee should not be shifted to the
employer
Employers Right to Hire Replacements During Strike
If ULP Strike the strikers have a right to reinstatement, notwithstanding
that the management have hired workers to replace them
Points to Consider in Hiring Replacement
a. Replacements did not gain permanent right to the position
b. Neither could such temporary employment bind the employer to retain
permanently the strikers
c. Failure or refusal of the employer to obey the court order reinstating
the strikers constitute contempt of court
Strikers who have not found substantially equivalent employment elsewhere
- Reinstatement follows as a matter of right, notwithstanding that the
employer has hired others to take place of the strikers for the purpose
of continuing the operations of the business
Civil Liability of Labor Organizations

a. Not liable for Unauthorized Acts of Officers

o Labor organizations are not liable in damages for the
unauthorized or ungratified unlawful acts of their officials nor
they are responsible for the unlawful acts of the individual
members which neither their officers nor committees have
directed, added or approved
b. Liability of Labor Organizations
o Where the acts of labor unions and their members are unlawful
and tortuous, the officers participating in such unlawful actions
are liable for the resulting damages irrespective of the fact that
they were acting on behalf of the union
o Also liable for unlawful and tortious acts done pursuant to a
conspiracy to which unions are a party.
c. Liability of Members of Labor Organizations
o Not subject to civil liability for the acts of the unions or its
officers unless it is shown that they personally authorized or
participated in the particular acts, and the liability of a member
of a labor union for the wrongful acts of his associates done
without his knowledge or approval is not to be inferred from
mere membership in the union
d. Liability of Labor Unions for Damages Arising from Boycotts
o Can claim damages against all and any of the persons who have
combined against him, provided there is causal connection
between the acts complained of and the damages suffered.
e. Liability of Labor Unions for Damages for Interfering with Right of
Workers to Work
o It can be against anyone, including a labor union, its officers or
members or any employer
Acts committed:
i.
Who unlawfully prevents one from procuring employment
ii.
Who intentionally and without legal justification or excuse
procure an employer to discharge his employee

f. Liability for Extorting Money from Employers

-

A labor union has no authority/right to extort money from employers

as the price of forbearance from threatened labor difficulties

DAMAGES
General Rule: union officers may not be vicariously held liable for illegal
acts of strike
Present Rule: For a labor union and/or its officials and members be held
liable, there must be proof of actual participation or authorization, or
ratification of the illegal acts