MALAYANG SAMAHAN NG MGA MANGGAGAWA SA M GREENFIELD VS RAMOS 326 SCRA428 [2000] FACTS: Petitioner Malayang Samahan ng mga Manggagawa

sa M. Greenfield (MSMG) is a local union. Private respondent M. Greenfield is the employer of petitioner's members. Members of petitioner conducted a strike, which was marred by violence. Private respondent attempted to quell the same by hiring persons for that purpose. Thereafter, petitioners were placed under preventive suspension; only some of them were eventually allowed to return to work. Petitioners thus filed a verified complaint with the Arbitration Branch of the DOLE, charging private respondent of ULP, in the form of union-busting, illegal dismissal, illegal suspension, interference in union activities, discrimination, threats, intimidation, coercion, violence, and oppression. Private respondent's defense was that the strike was illegal for it was marred by violence.

ISSUE: WON the strike should be declared illegal on account of violence committed during the strike. HELD: No, where both parties are responsible for the violence committed during the strike, the strike cannot be declared illegal since the strike cannot be attributed to the striking employees only. This is an exception to the general rule that the strike shall be declared illegal where it is marred by violence on the part of the employees. In the case at bar, the allegation of violence committed in the course of the strike, it must be remembered that the Labor Arbiter and the Commission found that "the parties are agreed that there were violent incidents . . . resulting to injuries to both sides, the union and management. The evidence on record show that the violence cannot be attributed to the striking employees alone for the company itself employed hired men to pacify the strikers. With violence committed on both sides, the management and the employees, such violence cannot be a ground for declaring the strike as illegal.