DOMINGUEZ, Jeah Maureen P.

LABOR 2 PAPER
February 1, 2017

Labor Relations
Book V of the Labor Code

Introduction
While laws in general have been said to exist from the moment
civilization began, Labor Law appears to be a much younger notion. In fact, it
is not impossible to imagine the market without Labor Laws. An employer
could hire an employee based on the laws of obligations and contract alone.
This contract, consented by both, would then be binding amongst the two
parties involved. Although such is the case, no country in the modern world
exists without these laws. Why? For brevitys sake, we answer this question
in two words social justice.
In a world without Labor Laws, the business owners bargaining power
in an employment contract is undeniably much greater than the employees
as there is often more supply (laborers) than there is demand (employment
opportunities). History has narrated to us the horrors of how some business
owners have commoditized and exploited marginalized workers. There is no
equal footing between citizens of different classes if the government does
not intervene this idea has paved the way for our current Labor Laws.
These laws, being social legislation, connote two things: (1) it acknowledges
that there is something wrong with the current social conditions, and (2) it
aims for social reform to improve these conditions.

Focus and Theme of the Paper: Book V of the Labor Code

The paper at hand aims to look at some provisions of the Labor Code,
more specifically Book V, under the theme of social justice. To better discuss
the said book, the discussion below will be divided into the different titles
individually or combined with another similar Title coupled with a summary
of its objectives and issues as well as insights on these provisions.

Book V of the Labor Code: Labor Relations

Enacted as Presidential Decree No. 442, the Labor Code was legislated
in order to protect and uphold the rights of the Filipino workers. It promotes
peace and stability in the workplace and aims to develop the countrys
human resources.
Book V of the Labor Code focuses on Labor Relations, a term defined as
a set of rules that outline the institutional mechanisms that govern the
individual and collective interactions of employers, employees or their
representatives.

Title I, II, & III: Policy, Definitions and the National Labor Relations
Commission
 Title I of Book V centralizes on a workers right to participate, a right
enshrined in our Constitution. How the right is preserved by the state is what
is outlined in the book. The main objective then is to democratize decisions
in the workplace and to provide for a concrete avenue for the laborers to be
able to have a say in management decisions. While our jurisdiction still
adheres to the Business Judgement Rule, public policy dictates that laborers
need to be protected by the state. Title I provides for the guidelines in
achieving this objective of democratization by stating the different state
policies that must be upheld by the Filipino businessman.
In line with the governments efforts for decentralization, the code then
creates the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), a government
organization with the special purpose of ensuring proper disposition in the
hearing of labor cases. The Commission, similar to the courts, also has the
power to cite any of those who violate its orders in contempt. While the code
has introduced a commission complete with arbiters to handle dispute cases,
several case laws have told us that if the issue between the employer and
his/her employee can be settled without resorting to trial, it should be put to
rest right away. Courts should not intervene, as much as possible, if the issue
can be settled by a compromise. This can be seen in Article 227 of the Code.
Further, the commission generally frowns upon quitclaims allegedly signed
by the workers in labor dispute cases. Placing this in light of social justice, we
see that the extra-diligence offered to the laborers acknowledge certain
societal evils in the practice today. While compromise agreements are
encouraged by the code, the provisions also recognize that the business
owners may take advantage of his laborers even in the process of
settlement. Compromise agreements should be evaluated to ensure that
both sides have equal outcome in the benefits and disadvantages that have
been consented to. Further, there are also provisions found in this title that
protect laborers against settling for unconscionable and low rates.

Title IV & V: Labor Organizations, Coverage

Because the workers right to participate is, as said, found in the
Constitution, one would think that the employers afford their employees free
exercise of such right. However, current social conditions are not exactly too
keen on the furtherance of this right. A lone workers demands, no matter
how valid or practical, are more often than not overlooked and unappreciated
by his employer. Further, the opposite, which is for the employer to listen to
all the concerns of every single worker would be too arduous, difficult, and
costly. To fix this dilemma and to streamline the process of employee
involvement, the Labor Code allows for the creation of Labor Organizations in
the form of federations, unions, and associations. From the bargaining unit of
a specific industry comes a representative organization that voices the
laborers needs and demands. This mechanism allows for the employees to
have equal footing with their respective employers.

Title VI: Unfair Labor Practices

 While most of the provisions found in Book V are either procedural or
outline the workers rights, it is important to note that the Title on Unfair
Labor Practices talk not only about the unfair practices that the management
may commit but also of unfair labor practices that a labor organization can
do to the detriment of the company. In these provisions, we are reminded
that the Labor Code is not a lopsided entity that only favors the workers
whose voices are not heard. The main aim of the Labor Code is to
democratize decision-making in the workplace. Once unions have been
certified, they are afforded rights, such as the right to strike, that when
exercised in bad faith can result to massive losses for the company.

Title VII & VII-A: Collective Bargaining, Grievance Machinery and Voluntary
Arbitration
Collective Bargaining is the process of negotiations that occur between
the employer and the representative union of the bargaining unit. The topics
to be discussed during the said bargaining cover the employees working
conditions, his benefits, his terms of employment, etc. Procedural aspects
such as grievance mechanisms can also be negotiated between the two
parties. The resulting contract to these series of negotiations is the Collective
Bargaining Agreement. The right to collectively bargain is an international
right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although this is the
case, we see in different case laws as well as in how the labor code is worded
that there are possible loopholes to said bargaining. More often than not,
employers look for ways to barely comply with the provisions on collective
bargaining thereby placing employees at a disadvantage. An example for
this would be what is called surface bargaining. Surface Bargaining is the
term used when the employer is not sincere with his intent to bargain with
the union. It occurs when the business owner has no honest intention to
bargain with the employees thereby constituting an unfair labor practice.
Other types of bargaining that are tainted with bad faith are blue-sky
bargaining, take it or leave it bargaining, and bargaining on a package.
Problems that arise out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or the
noncompliance thereof are solved through grievance machinery, which more
often than not has been outlined in the said agreement itself. As was stated
previously, preference in solving problems between the management and
the laborers is given to in-house procedures and voluntary arbitration before
litigation. The provisions in the Labor Code that outline this benefit both the
workers and the management, as this would prove to be a more cost efficient
and faster avenue for solving disputes.

Title VIII: Strikes and Lockouts

While the right to strike and other peaceful concerted activities has
been outlined in the Constitution, strict laws govern its exercise. This notes
the fact that strikes, while perfectly legal, are not exactly favored. Strikes
denote two negative aspects for both parties: (1) on the part of the
management, it means that they have not been listening to nor addressing
the needs of the laborers, and (2) on the part of the laborers, it means that
their demands have been neglected and ignored. A similar machinery can be
resulted to if the circumstance is the vice versa a lockout, where the
employer initiates the work stoppage. It is important to note that strikes and
lockouts are only used in the extreme, that is, there is a requisite of having
conducted extensive bargaining between the management and the
employees.

Conclusion
In the end, the entire Book V concretizes a need that although
perfectly simple is easily overlooked in the workplace the need to be heard.
Labor Relations provides us with a platform where those marginalized in the
industry, which are almost always the laborers, get the chance to air out
their grievances and concerns.