Atlantic Gulf V Laguesma

ATLANTIC GULF AND PACIFIC COMPANY OF MANILA V.
LAGUESMA, DOLE, LAKAS-NFL (1992)

NOCON, J.
FACTS:
Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company of Manila, Inc. is engaged in the construction and fabrication business and
conducts its construction business in different construction sites here and abroad while its fabrication operations
are conducted by its Steel and Marine Structures Group at its Batangas Marine and Fabrication Yard (BMFY) in
Bauan, Batangas where the steel structures and other heavy marine works are fabricated.
The Company constantly adopts the practice of hiring project employees when existing fabrication capacity
cannot absorb increases in job orders for steel structures and other heavy construction works.
o These project employees are automatically terminated after expiration of their contracts, or rehired if the
projects they were assigned to were not yet finished.
June 8, 1990 Atlantic Gulf executed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the AG&P United Rank & File
Association (URFA or UNION 1)
Said Collective Bargaining Agreement was subsequently registered on July 9, 1990 with the Bureau of Labor
Relations
June 29, 1990 - private respondent Lakas ng Manggagawa sa AG&P-SMSG-National Federation of Labor
(LAKAS-NFL or the second UNION) filed a Petition for Certification Election with the Med-Arbitration Unit to be
certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of the regular non-project employees of the Steel and
Marine Structure at the BMFY representing approximately 1,000 employees or that a certification be
conducted among said employees.
Med-Arbiter ordered certification election in Atlantic Gulf be conducted immediately. The only choices were:
o Lakas-NFL
o No Union
This was opposed by Atlantic Gulf, which filed an appeal to DOLE. This was eventually denied by DOLE
Undersecretary Laguesma for lack of merit.
October 26, 1990 - 691 alleged project employees sought to be represented by private respondent LAKAS-NFL
were formally issued regular employment appointments by the petitioner effective November 1, 1990 which were
accepted by said project employees.
The project employees not regularized went on strike, which paralyzed operations in Batangas
Conciliation was held between the striking employees and Atlantic Gulf:
o Agreement was reached by the petitioner and private respondent LAKAS-NFL wherein COMPANY
agreed to formally regularize all the remaining alleged project employees with at least one year of
service pending the final outcome of the certification election case.
o Thereafter, 686 additional regular project employees were regularized
URFA (1st Union) informed Atlantic Gulf that 410 regularized project employees (under the agreement with LakasNFL or second Union) are now members of URFA
Thus, Atlantic Gulf filed a Motion for Reconsideration on their denied motion for dismissal of the petition for
certification election of Lakas-NFL, stating that:
o employees sought to be represented by the private respondent LAKAS-NFL are regular
employees of the petitioner and are deemed already included in the existing Collective Bargaining
Agreement of the regular rank-and-file employees (this was the CBA negotiated with URFA)
MfR denied again.
ISSUE: Can a petition for certification election for another Union prosper when there is already an existing CBA between
Company and Rank-and-File employees, who are already included in the CBA?
HELD: NO. Atlantic Gulfs petition is MERITORIOUS.
COURT SAYS: ON EFFECT OF THE REGULARIZATION OF PROJECT EMPLOYEES TO THEIR INCLUSION IN CBA
- The regularization of all the regular project employees with at least one year of service and the subsequent
membership of said employees with the URFA mean that the alleged regular project employees whom
respondent LAKAS-NFL seeks to represent are, in fact, regular employees by contemplation of law and
included in the appropriate bargaining unit of said Collective Bargaining Agreement
- Consequently, the bargaining unit which respondent LAKAS-NFL seeks to represent has already ceased to exist
The Labor Code provides:
Art. 232. Prohibition on Certification Election. The Bureau shall not entertain any petition for
certification election or any other action which may disturb the administration of duly registered existing
collective bargaining agreements affecting the parties except under Articles 253, 253-A and 256 of this
Code.
Paragraph 2 of Section 3, Rule V, Book V of the Implementing Rules and Regulations likewise provides:
If a collective bargaining agreement has been duly registered in accordance with Article 231 of the Code,
a petition for certification election or a motion for intervention can only be entertained within sixty (60)
days prior to the expiry date of such agreement.
Consequently, the existence of a duly registered Collective Bargaining Agreement between the petitioner and URFA,
which is the sole and exclusive bargaining representative of all the regular rank-and-file employees of the petitioner
including the regular project employees with more than one year of service, bars any other labor organization from
filing a petition for certification election except within the 60-day period prior to the expiration of the Collective
Bargaining Agreement.
- Purpose? To ensure INDUSTRIAL PEACE
DISPOSITION: Resolution by DOLE reversed and set aside.)

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ATLANTIC GULF AND PACIFIC COMPANY OF MANILA V.

LAGUESMA, DOLE, LAKAS-NFL (1992)

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