Labor Relations Digests.docx

1. TUNAY NA PAGKAKAISA NG MANGGAGAWA SA ASIA BREWERY VS. ASIA BREWERY, INC G.R. No. 162025 Topic: Right to Self-Organization; Excluded Employees/ Workers; Confidential Employees

FACTS: 1) Respondent ABI entered into a CBA with Bisig at Lakas ng mga Manggagawa sa Asia-Independent (BLMAINDEPENDENT), the exclusive bargaining representative of ABI’s rank-and-file employees. 2) Article I of the CBA defined the scope of the bargaining unit, as follows: The UNION shall not represent or accept for membership employees outside the scope of the bargaining unit herein defined.

Section 2. Bargaining Unit. The bargaining unit shall be comprised of all regular rank-and-file daily-paid employees of the COMPANY. However, the following jobs/positions as herein defined shall be excluded from the bargaining unit, to wit: xxx Confidential and Executive Secretaries xxx Purchasing and Quality Control Staff.

3) The CBA expressly excluded Confidential and Executive Secretaries from the rank-and-file bargaining unit, for which reason ABI seeks their disaffiliation from petitioner. ABI’s management stopped deducting union dues from 81 employees, believing that their membership in BLMA-INDEPENDENT violated the CBA. 18 of these affected employees are QA Sampling Inspectors/Inspectresses and Machine Gauge Technician (checkers) who formed part of the Quality Control Staff. The rest are secretaries/clerks directly under their respective division managers. 4) Petitioner, however, maintains that except for those who had been promoted to monthly paid positions, the other secretaries/clerks are deemed included among the rank-and-file employees of ABI. BLMA-INDEPENDENT claimed that ABI’s actions restrained the employees’ right to self-organization. 5) VA ruled that the subject employees qualify under the rank-and-file category because their functions are merely routinary and clerical. He noted that the positions occupied by the checkers and secretaries/clerks in the different divisions are not managerial or supervisory, as evident from the duties and responsibilities assigned to them. With respect to QA Sampling Inspectors/Inspectresses and Machine Gauge Technician, he ruled that ABI failed to establish with sufficient clarity their basic functions as to consider them Quality Control Staff who were excluded from the coverage of the CBA. Accordingly, the subject employees were declared eligible for inclusion within the bargaining unit represented by BLMA-INDEPENDENT. 6) CA reversed the VA, ruling that the 81 employees are excluded from and are not eligible for inclusion in the bargaining unit as defined in Section 2, Article I of the CBA.

ISSUE: WON the checkers and secretaries/clerks of respondent company are rank-and-file employees who are eligible to join the Union of the rank-and-file employees.

RULING: YES. The checkers and secretaries/clerks of respondent company are rank-and-file employees who are eligible to join the Union of the rank-and-file employees.

Although Article 245 of the Labor Code limits the ineligibility to join, form and assist any labor organization to managerial employees, jurisprudence has extended this prohibition to confidential employees or those who by reason of their positions or nature of work are required to assist or act in a fiduciary manner to managerial employees and hence, are likewise privy to sensitive and highly confidential records. Confidential employees are thus excluded from the rank-and-file bargaining unit. The rationale for their separate category and disqualification to join any labor organization is similar to the inhibition for managerial employees because if allowed to be affiliated with a Union, the latter might not be assured of their loyalty in view of evident conflict of interests and the Union can also become company-denominated with the presence of managerial employees in the Union membership. Having access to confidential information, confidential employees may also become the source of undue advantage. Said employees may act as a spy or spies of either party to a collective bargaining agreement.

Confidential employees are defined as those who: 1) assist or act in a confidential capacity, 2) to persons who formulate, determine, and effectuate management policies in the field of labor relations.

The two (2) criteria are cumulative, and both must be met if an employee is to be considered a confidential employee that is, the confidential relationship must exist between the employee and his supervisor, and the supervisor must handle the prescribed responsibilities relating to labor relations. The exclusion from bargaining units of employees who, in the normal course of their duties, become aware of management policies relating to labor relations is a principal objective sought to be accomplished by the confidential employee rule.

A perusal of the job descriptions of these secretaries/clerks reveals that their assigned duties and responsibilities involve routine activities of recording and monitoring, and other paper works for their respective departments while secretarial tasks such as receiving telephone calls and filing of office correspondence appear to have been commonly imposed as additional duties. Respondent failed to indicate who among these numerous secretaries/clerks have access to confidential data relating to management policies that could give rise to potential conflict of interest with their Union membership. It is not even farfetched that the job category may exist only on paper since they are all daily-paid workers. With respect to the Sampling Inspectors/Inspectresses and the Gauge Machine Technician, the job descriptions of these checkers showed that they perform routine and mechanical tasks preparatory to the delivery of the finished products. No evidence was presented by the respondent to prove that these daily-paid checkers actually form part of the company’s Quality Control Staff who as such were exposed to sensitive, vital and confidential information about [company’s] products or have knowledge of mixtures of the products, their defects, and even their formulas which are considered trade secrets.

DISPOSITIVE: Petitioner won.

DOCTRINE: Although Article 245 of the Labor Code limits the ineligibility to join, form and assist any labor organization to managerial employees, jurisprudence has extended this prohibition to confidential employees or those who by reason of their positions or nature of work are required to assist or act in a fiduciary manner to managerial employees and hence, are likewise privy to sensitive and highly confidential records. Confidential employees are thus excluded from the rank-and-file bargaining unit.

2. SAN MIGUEL FOODS, INCORPORATED VS SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION SUPERVISORS and EXEMPT UNION G.R. No. 146206 Topic: Determination of Appropriate Bargaining Unit; Factors – Unit Determination

QUICKIE FACTS: San Miguel Foods has factory/branches in Cabuyao, San Fernando, and Otis. The employees from these three branches wanted to form a single bargaining unit. This was opposed by the company as being against the “one company, one union” policy. SC ruled that applying the mutuality of interest test, there should only be one bargaining unit.

FACTS:

In the case of San Miguel Corporation Supervisors and Exempt Union v. Laguesma, the Court held that even if they handle confidential data regarding technical and internal business operations, supervisory employees 3 and 4 and the exempt employees of petitioner San Miguel Foods, Inc. are not to be considered confidential employees, because the same do not pertain to labor relations, particularly, negotiation and settlement of grievances. Consequently, they were allowed to form an appropriate bargaining unit for the purpose of collective bargaining. The Court also declared that the employees belonging to the three different plants of San Miguel Corporation Magnolia Poultry Products Plants in Cabuyao, San Fernando, and Otis, having community or mutuality of interests, constitute a single bargaining unit.

A certification election was conducted. On the date of the election, petitioner filed the Omnibus Objections and Challenge to Voters, questioning the eligibility to vote by some of its employees on the grounds that some employees do not belong to the bargaining unit which respondent seeks to represent or that there is no existence of employeremployee relationship with petitioner.

Based on the results of the election, the Med-Arbiter issued the Order stating that since the Yes vote received 97% of the valid votes cast, respondent is certified to be the exclusive bargaining agent of the supervisors and exempt employees of petitioner's Magnolia Poultry Products Plants in Cabuyao, San Fernando, and Otis.

On appeal, the then Acting DOLE Undersecretary, in the Resolution, affirmed the Order of the Med-Arbiter.

CA affirmed the Resolution of DOLE Undersecretary with modification stating that those holding the positions of Human Resource Assistant and Personnel Assistant are excluded from the bargaining unit.

Hence, this petition by the San Miguel Foods

ISSUE: W/N CA departed from jurisprudence when it expanded the scope of the bargaining unit.

RULING: No. In San Miguel vs Laguesma, the Court explained that the employees of San Miguel Corporation Magnolia Poultry Products Plants of Cabuyao, San Fernando, and Otis constitute a single bargaining unit, which is not contrary to the one-company, one-union policy. An appropriate bargaining unit is defined as a group of employees of a given employer, comprised of all or less than all of the entire body of employees, which the collective interest of all the employees, consistent with equity to the employer, indicate to be best suited to serve the reciprocal rights and duties of the parties under the collective bargaining provisions of the law.

It held that while the existence of a bargaining history is a factor that may be reckoned with in determining the appropriate bargaining unit, the same is not decisive or conclusive. Other factors must be considered. The test of grouping is community or mutuality of interest. This is so because the basic test of an asserted bargaining unit’s acceptability is whether or not it is fundamentally the combination which will best assure to all employees the exercise of their collective bargaining rights. Certainly, there is a mutuality of interest among the employees. Their functions mesh with one another. One group needs the other in the same way that the company needs them both. There may be differences as to the nature of their individual assignments, but the distinctions are not enough to warrant the formation of a separate bargaining unit.

The Court affirms the finding of the CA that there should be only one bargaining unit for the employees in Cabuyao, San Fernando, and Otis of Magnolia Poultry Products Plant involved in dressed chicken processing and Magnolia Poultry Farms engaged in live chicken operations. Certain factors, such as specific line of work, working conditions, location of work, mode of compensation, and other relevant conditions do not affect or impede their commonality of interest. Although they seem separate and distinct from each other, the specific tasks of each division are actually interrelated and there exists mutuality of interests which warrants the formation of a single bargaining unit.

DISPOSITIVE: Respondent won

DOCTRINE: An appropriate bargaining unit is defined as a group of employees of a given employer, comprised of all or less than all of the entire body of employees, which the collective interest of all the employees, consistent with equity to the employer, indicate to be best suited to serve the reciprocal rights and duties of the parties under the collective bargaining provisions of the law.

It held that while the existence of a bargaining history is a factor that may be reckoned with in determining the appropriate bargaining unit, the same is not decisive or conclusive. Other factors must be considered. The test of grouping is community or mutuality of interest. This is so because the basic test of an asserted bargaining unit’s acceptability is whether or not it is fundamentally the combination which will best assure to all employees the exercise of their collective bargaining rights. Certainly, there is a mutuality of interest among the employees. Their functions mesh with one another. One group needs the other in the same way that the company needs them both. There may be differences as to the nature of their individual assignments, but the distinctions are not enough to warrant the formation of a separate bargaining unit.

4. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company vs Lepanto Capataz Union, G.R. No. 157086 February 18, 2013 Facts: As a domestic corporation authorized to engage in large-scale mining, Lepanto operated several mining claims in Mankayan, Benguet. On May 27, 1998, respondent Lepanto Capataz Union (Union), a labor organization duly registered with DOLE, filed a petition for consent election with the Industrial Relations Division of the Cordillera Regional Office (CAR) of DOLE, thereby proposing to represent 139 capatazes of Lepanto. In due course, Lepanto opposed the petition, contending that the Union was in reality seeking a certification election, not a consent election, and would be thereby competing with the Lepanto Employees Union (LEU), the current collective bargaining agent. Lepanto pointed out that the capatazes were already members of LEU, the exclusive representative of all rank-andfile employees of its Mine Division.

Issues: Whether or not the filing of a motion for reconsideration on the decision by the DOLE Secretary is a condition precedent in a petition for certiorari.

Whether or not respondent LCU may form a separate union.

Held: Yes. To start with, the requirement of the timely filing of a motion for reconsideration as a precondition to the filing of a petition for certiorari accords with the principle of exhausting administrative remedies as a means to afford every opportunity to the respondent agency to resolve the matter and correct itself if need be.

And, secondly, the ruling in National Federation of Labor v. Laguesma reiterates St. Martin’s Funeral Home v. National Labor Relations Commission, where the Court has pronounced that the special civil action of certiorari is the appropriate remedy from the decision of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in view of the lack of any appellate remedy provided by the Labor Code to a party aggrieved by the decision of the NLRC. Accordingly, any decision, resolution or ruling of the DOLE Secretary from which the Labor Code affords no remedy to the aggrieved party may be reviewed through a petition for certiorari initiated only in the CA in deference to the principle of the hierarchy of courts.

Yet, it is also significant to note that National Federation of Labor v. Laguesma also reaffirmed the dictum issued in St. Martin’s Funeral Homes v. National Labor Relations Commission to the effect that “the remedy of the aggrieved party is to timely file a motion for reconsideration as a precondition for any further or subsequent remedy, and then seasonably avail of the special civil action of certiorari under Rule 65.

Yes. Capatazes or foremen are not rank-andfile employees because they are an extension of the management, and as such they may influence the rank-and-file workers under them to engage in slowdowns or similar activities detrimental to the policies, interests or business objectives of the employers.

The word capataz is defined in Webster’s Third International Dictionary, 1986 as “a boss”, “foreman” and “an overseer”. The employer did not dispute during the hearing that the capatazes indeed take charge of the implementation of the job orders by supervising and instructing the miners, mackers and other rank-and-file workers under them, assess and evaluate their performance, make regular reports and recommends (sic) new systems and procedure of work, as well as guidelines for the discipline of employees. As testified to by petitioner’s president, the capatazes are neither rank-and-file nor supervisory and, more or less, fall in the middle of their rank. In this respect, we can see that indeed the capatazes differ from the rank-and-file and can by themselves constitute a separate bargaining unit.

5. STA. LUCIA EAST COMMERCIAL CORPORATION vs. HON. SECRETARY OF LABOR ANDEMPLOYMENT and STA. LUCIA EASTCOMMERCIAL CORPORATION WORKERSASSOCIATION (CLUP LOCAL CHAPTER) Facts: On 27 February 2001, Confederated Labor Union of the Philippines (CLUP), in behalf of its chartered local, instituted a petition for certification election among the regular rank-and-file employees of Sta. Lucia East Commercial Corporation (SLECC) and its Affiliates. The affiliate companies included in the petition were SLE Commercial, SLE Department Store, SLE Cinema, Robsan East Trading, Bowling Center, Planet Toys, Home Gallery and Essentials. On 10 October 2001, CLUP-Sta. Lucia East Commercial Corporation and its Affiliates Workers Union [CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union] reorganized itself and re-registered as CLUP-Sta. Lucia East Commercial Corporation Workers Association (herein appellant CLUP-SLECCWA), limiting its membership to the rank-and-file employees of Sta. Lucia East Commercial Corporation. It was issued Certificate of Creation of a Local Chapter No. RO400-0110-CC-004. On the same date, [CLUP-SLECCWA] filed the instant petition for direct certification. It alleged that [SLECC] employs about 115 employees and that more than 20% of employees belonging to the rank-and-file category are its members. On 22 November 2001, SLECC filed a motion to dismiss the petition. It averred that it has voluntarily recognized [SMSLEC] on 20 July 2001 as the exclusive bargaining agent of its regular rank-and-file employees, and that collective bargaining negotiations already commenced between them. SLECC argued that the petition should be dismissed for violating the one year and negotiation bar rules under pars. (c) and (d), Section 11, Rule XI, Book V of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code. On 29 November 2001, a CBA between [SMSLEC] and [SLECC] was ratified by its rank-and-file employees and registered with DOLE-Regional Office No. IV on 9 January 2002. In the meantime, on 19 December 2001, [CLUP-SLECCWA] filed its Opposition and Comment to [SLECC’S] Motion to Dismiss. In his Order dated 29 July 2002, Med-Arbiter Anastacio L. Bactin dismissed CLUP-SLECCWA’s petition for direct certification on the ground of contract bar rule. The prior voluntary recognition of SMSLEC and the CBA between SLECC and SMSLEC bars the filing of CLUP-SLECCWA’s petition for direct certification. This was reversed by the Secretary of Labor. The Secretary held that the subsequent negotiations and registration of a CBA executed by SLECC with SMSLEC could not bar CLUP-SLECCWA’s petition. CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union constituted a registered labor organization at the time of SLECC’s voluntary recognition of SMSLEC.

On appeal to the Court of Appeals (CA), the appellate court further ruled that the Secretary of Labor and Employment (Secretary) was correct when she held that the subsequent negotiations and registration of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) executed by SLECC with Samahang Manggagawa sa Sta. Lucia East Commercial (SMSLEC) could not bar Sta. Lucia East Commercial Corporation Workers Association’s (SLECCWA) petition for direct certification. Issue: Can the subsequent negotiations and registration of a CBA executed by SLECC with SMSLEC could not bar CLUPSLECCWA’s petition? Ruling: No. CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union constituted a registered labor organization at the time of SLECC’s voluntary recognition of SMSLEC. It may be recalled that CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union’s initial problem was that they constituted a legitimate labor organization representing a non-appropriate bargaining unit. However, CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union subsequently re-registered as CLUP-SLECCWA, limiting its members to the rank-and-file of SLECC. SLECC cannot ignore that CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union was a legitimate labor organization at the time of SLECC’s voluntary recognition of SMSLEC. SLECC and SMSLEC cannot, by themselves, decide whether CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union represented an appropriate bargaining unit. The employer may voluntarily recognize the representation status of a union in unorganized establishments. SLECC was not an unorganized establishment when it voluntarily recognized SMSLEC as its exclusive bargaining representative on 20 July 2001. CLUP-SLECC and its Affiliates Workers Union filed a petition for certification election on 27 February 2001 and this petition remained pending as of 20 July 2001. Thus, SLECC’s voluntary recognition of SMSLEC on 20 July 2001, the subsequent negotiations and resulting registration of a CBA executed by SLECC and SMSLEC are void and cannot bar CLUP-SLECCWA’s present petition for certification election. We find it strange that the employer itself, SLECC, filed a motion to oppose CLUP-SLECCWA’s petition for certification election. In petitions for certification election, the employer is a mere bystander and cannot oppose the petition or appeal the Med-Arbiter’s decision. The exception to this rule, which happens when the employer is requested to bargain collectively, is not present in the case before us.

6. HOLY CHILD CATHOLIC SCHOOL V. HON. PATRICIA STO. TOMAS FACTS: A petition for certification election was filed by private respondent Pinag-Isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis – Holy Child Catholic School Teachers and Employees Labor Union (HCCS-TELUPIGLAS). Holy Child Parochial School raised that members of private respondent do not belong to the same class; it is not only a mixture of managerial, supervisory, and rank-and-file employees – as three (3) are vice-principals, one (1) is a department head/supervisor, and eleven (11) are coordinators – but also a combination of teaching and non-teaching personnel – as twenty-seven (27) are non-teaching personnel. It insisted that, for not being in accord with Article 24510 of the Labor Code, private respondent is an illegitimate labor organization lacking in personality to file a petition for certification election The Med-Arbiter denied the same. ISSUE: Whether or not a petition for certification election is dismissible on the ground that the labor organization’s membership allegedly consists of supervisory and rank-and-file employees.

RULING:

No. Before, when the 1989 Rules was still in application, mingling will prevent an otherwise legitimate and duly registered labor organization from exercising its right to file a petition for certification election. But then, the 1989 Amended Omnibus Rules was further amended by Department Order No. 9, series of 1997 (1997 Amended Omnibus Rules). Specifically, the requirement under Sec. 2(c) of the 1989 Amended Omnibus Rules – that the petition for certification election indicate that the bargaining unit of rank-and-file employees has not been mingled with supervisory employees – was removed.

Petitioner argued that, in view of the improper mixture of teaching and non-teaching personnel in private respondent due to the absence of mutuality of interest among its members, the petition for certification election should have been dismissed on the ground that private respondent is not qualified to file such petition for its failure to qualify as a legitimate labor organization, the basic qualification of which is the representation of an appropriate bargaining unit. The Supreme Court disagreed and said that the concepts of a union and of a legitimate labor organization are different from, but related to, the concept of a bargaining unit.

In case of alleged inclusion of disqualified employees in a union, the proper procedure for an employer like petitioner is to directly file a petition for cancellation of the union’s certificate of registration due to misrepresentation, false statement or fraud under the circumstances enumerated in Article 239 of the Labor Code, as amended. To reiterate, private respondent, having been validly issued a certificate of registration, should be considered as having acquired juridical personality which may not be attacked collaterally.

7. Ren Transport Corp. and/or Reynaldo Pazcoguin III Vs. National Labor Relations Commission FACTS: Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Ren Transport (SMART) is a registered union with a CBA with Ren Transport Corp. (Ren Transport) set to expire on December 31, 2004. The 60day freedom period of the CBA passed without a challenge to SMART’s majority status as bargaining agent. Subsequently, two members of SMART wrote to DOLE-NCR informing the latter office that a majority of the members of SMART had decided to disaffiliate from their mother federation to from another union, Ren Transport Employees Association (RTEA) and SMART contested the same. During the pendency of the disaffiliation dispute, Ren Transport stopped the remittance to SMART of the union dues as provided under the CBA. Further, Ren Transport voluntarily recognized RTEA as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of their company. ISSUE\S: (1)Did Ren Transport commit acts of unfair labor practice? (2) Did Ren Transport interfere with the exercise of the employees’ right to self -organize? RULING: (1) YES. Violation of the duty to bargain collectively is an unfair labor practice under Article 258(g) of the Labor Code. Ren Transport had a duty to bargain collectively with SMART. Under Article 263 in relation to Article 267 of the Labor Code, it is during the freedom period at the last 60 days before the expiration of the CBA when another union may challenge the majority status of the bargaining agent through the filing of a petition for a certification election. In the present case, no petition for certification election challenging the majority status of SMART was filed during the freedom period, SMART therefore remained the exclusive bargaining agent of the rankand-file employees. (2) YES. The Labor Arbiter found that the failure to remit the union dues to SMART and the voluntary recognition of RTEA were clear indications of interference with the employees’ right to self-organization.

8. PHILTRANCO SERVICE ENTERPRISES v. PHILTRANCO WORKERS UNION-ASSOCIATION OF GENUINE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, GR No. 180962, 2014-02-26 Facts: On the ground that it was suffering business losses, petitioner Philtranco Service Enterprises, Inc., a local land transportation company engaged in the business of carrying passengers and freight, retrenched 21 of its employees Consequently, the company union, herein private... respondent Philtranco Workers Union-Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (PWU-AGLU), filed a Notice of Strike with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), claiming that petitioner engaged in unfair labor practices. Unable to settle their differences... at the scheduled... preliminary conference held befor... the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB)... the case was thereafter referred to the Office of the Secretary of... the DOLE (Secretary of Labor) Acting DOLE Secreta Danilo P. Cruz issued a Decision Acting DOLE Secretary Danilo P. Cruz issued a Decision... we hereby ORDER Philtranco to: REINSTATE to their former positions... he Secretary of Labor declined to rule on petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration and private respondent's "Partial Appeal", citing a DOLE regulation[9]... which provided that voluntary arbitrators' decisions, orders, resolutions or awards shall not be the subject of motions for reconsideration... petitioner filed before the CA an original Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition, and sought injunctive relief,... p... remises considered, the instant Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with Prayer for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction is hereby DISMISSED... in assailing the Decision of the DOLE voluntary arbitrator, petitioner erred in filing a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the 1997 Rules, when it should have filed a petition for review under Rule 43 thereof, which properly covers decisions of... voluntary labor arbitrators. The CA added that since the assailed Decision was not timely appealed within the reglementary 15-day period... under Rule 43, the same became final and executory. Petitioner argues that a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 and not a petition for review under Rule 43 is the proper remedy. Petitioner adds that, contrary to the CA's ruling, NCMB-NCR CASE No. NS-02-028-07 is not a simple voluntary arbitration case. The character of the case, which involves an impending strike by petitioner's employees; the nature of petitioner's business as a public transportation... company, which is imbued with public interest. Issues: THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED IN RULING THAT THE PETITIONER AVAILED OF THE ERRONEOUS REMEDY IN FILING A PETITION FOR CERTIORARI UNDER RULE 65 INSTEAD OF UNDER RULE 43 OF THE RULES OF COURT. whether the Petition for Certiorari was timely filed Ruling: The fact is undeniable that by referring the case to the Secretary of Labor, Conciliator-Mediator Aglibut... conceded that the case fell within the coverage of Article 263 of the Labor Code; the impending strike in Philtranco, a public transportation company whose business is imbued with public interest, required that the Secretary of Labor assume jurisdiction over the case, which he... in fact did. By assuming jurisdiction over the case, the provisions of Article 263 became applicable, any representation to the contrary or that he is deciding the case in his capacity as a voluntary arbitrator notwithstanding. Accordingly, the Secretary of Labor's Decision in Case No. OS-VA-2007-008 is a proper subject of certiorari... the Court agrees with petitioner's submission. Rule 65 states that where a motion for reconsideration or new trial is timely filed, whether such motion is required or not, the petition shall... be filed not later than 60 days counted from the notice of the denial of the motion.

So also, considering that a decision of the Secretary of Labor is subject to judicial review only through a special civil action of certiorari and, as a rule, cannot be resorted to without the aggrieved party having exhausted administrative remedies through a motion... for reconsideration, the aggrieved party, must be allowed to move for a reconsideration of the same so that he can bring a special civil action for certiorari before the Supreme Court. Principles: While a government office[1] may prohibit altogether the filing of a motion for reconsideration with respect to its decisions or orders, the fact remains that certiorari inherently requires the filing of a motion for... reconsideration, which is the tangible representation of the opportunity given to the office to correct itself. Unless it is filed, there could be no occasion to rectify. Worse, the remedy of certiorari would be unavailing. Simply put, regardless of the proscription... against the filing of a motion for reconsideration, the same may be filed on the assumption that rectification of the decision or order must be obtained, and before a petition for certiorari may be instituted. when the Secretary of Labor assumes jurisdiction over a labor case in an industry indispensable to national interest, "he exercises great breadth of... discretion" in finding a solution to the parties' dispute.[24] "[T]he authority of the Secretary of Labor to assume jurisdiction over a labor dispute causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout in an industry indispensable to national interest includes... and extends to all questions and controversies arising therefrom. The power is plenary and discretionary in nature to enable him to effectively and efficiently dispose of the primary dispute."[25] This wide latitude of discretion given to the Secretary of Labor may not be the subject of appeal. Though appeals from the NLRC to the Secretary of Labor were eliminated, presently there are several instances in the Labor Code and its implementing and related rules where an appeal can be filed with the Office of the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary of Labor... issues a ruling, to wit:... x x x x (6) Art. 263 provides that the Secretary of Labor shall decide or resolve the labor dispute [over] which he assumed jurisdiction within thirty (30) days from the date of the assumption of jurisdiction. His decision shall be final and executory ten (10) calendar days after... receipt thereof by the parties. From the foregoing we see that the Labor Code and its implementing and related rules generally do not provide for any mode for reviewing the decision of the Secretary of Labor. It is further generally provided that the decision of the Secretary of Labor shall be final and... executory after ten (10) days from notice. Yet, like decisions of the NLRC which under Art. 223 of the Labor Code become final after ten (10) days, decisions of the Secretary of Labor come to this Court by way of a petition for certiorari even beyond the ten-day period provided... in the Labor Code and the implementing rules but within the reglementary period set for Rule 65 petitions under the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure. x x x

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