This case has been cited 3 times or more.
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2009-11-27 |
BRION, J. |
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| We hold this FVCLU-PTGWO position to be correct, but only with respect to the original five-year term of the CBA which, by law, is also the effective period of the union's exclusive bargaining representation status.While the parties may agree to extend the CBA's original five-year term together with all other CBA provisions, any such amendment or term in excess of five years will not carry with it a change in the union's exclusive collective bargaining status.By express provision of the above-quoted Article 253-A, the exclusive bargaining status cannot go beyond five years and the representation status is a legal matter not for the workplace parties to agree upon.In other words, despite an agreement for a CBA with a life of more than five years, either as an original provision or by amendment, the bargaining union's exclusive bargaining status is effective only for five years and can be challenged within sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the CBA's first five years.As we said in San Miguel Corp. Employees Union-PTGWO, et al. v. Confesor, San Miguel Corp., Magnolia Corp. and San Miguel Foods, Inc.,[22] where we cited the Memorandum of the Secretary of Labor and Employment dated February 24, 1994: In the event however, that the parties, by mutual agreement, enter into a renegotiated contract with a term of three (3) years or one which does not coincide with the said five-year term and said agreement is ratified by majority of the members in the bargaining unit, the subject contract is valid and legal and therefore, binds the contracting parties.The same will however not adversely affect the right of another union to challenge the majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent within sixty (60) days before the lapse of the original five (5) year term of the CBA. | |||||
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2009-11-27 |
BRION, J. |
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| We hold this FVCLU-PTGWO position to be correct, but only with respect to the original five-year term of the CBA which, by law, is also the effective period of the union's exclusive bargaining representation status.While the parties may agree to extend the CBA's original five-year term together with all other CBA provisions, any such amendment or term in excess of five years will not carry with it a change in the union's exclusive collective bargaining status.By express provision of the above-quoted Article 253-A, the exclusive bargaining status cannot go beyond five years and the representation status is a legal matter not for the workplace parties to agree upon.In other words, despite an agreement for a CBA with a life of more than five years, either as an original provision or by amendment, the bargaining union's exclusive bargaining status is effective only for five years and can be challenged within sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the CBA's first five years.As we said in San Miguel Corp. Employees Union-PTGWO, et al. v. Confesor, San Miguel Corp., Magnolia Corp. and San Miguel Foods, Inc.,[22] where we cited the Memorandum of the Secretary of Labor and Employment dated February 24, 1994:In the event however, that the parties, by mutual agreement, enter into a renegotiated contract with a term of three (3) years or one which does not coincide with the said five-year term and said agreement is ratified by majority of the members in the bargaining unit, the subject contract is valid and legal and therefore, binds the contracting parties.The same will however not adversely affect the right of another union to challenge the majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent within sixty (60) days before the lapse of the original five (5) year term of the CBA. In the present case, the CBA was originally signed for a period of five years, i.e., from February 1, 1998 to January 30, 2003, with a provision for the renegotiation of the CBA's other provisions at the end of the 3rd year of the five-year CBA term.Thus, prior to January 30, 2001 the workplace parties sat down for renegotiation but instead of confining themselves to the economic and non-economic CBA provisions, also extended the life of the CBA for another four months, i.e., from the original expiry date on January 30, 2003 to May 30, 2003. | |||||
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2002-01-23 |
QUISUMBING, J. |
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| ART. 253-A. Terms of a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Any Collective Bargaining Agreement that the parties may enter into shall, insofar as the representation aspect is concerned, be for a term of five (5) years. No petition questioning the majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent shall be entertained and no certification election shall be conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment outside of the sixty-day period immediately before the date of expiry of such five-year term of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. All other provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement shall be renegotiated not later than three (3) years after its execution. Any agreement on such other provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement entered into within six (6) months from the date of expiry of the term of such other provisions as fixed in such Collective Bargaining Agreement, shall retroact to the day immediately following such date. If any such agreement is entered into beyond six months, the parties shall agree on the duration of the retroactivity thereof. In case of a deadlock in the renegotiation of the collective bargaining agreement, the parties may exercise their rights under this Code. Under this provision, insofar as representation is concerned, a CBA has a term of five years, while the other provisions, except for representation, may be negotiated not later than three years after the execution.[17] Petitioners submit that a 10-year CBA suspension is inordinately long, way beyond the maximum statutory life of a CBA, provided for in Article 253-A. By agreeing to a 10-year suspension, PALEA, in effect, abdicated the workers' constitutional right to bargain for another CBA at the mandated time. | |||||