Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club Inc. vs.

Tagaytay Highlands Emloyees Union Facts The Tagaytay Highlands Employees Union, a labor organization representing majority of the rank-and-file employees of Tagaytay Highlands, filed a petition for certification election. This petition was opposed by Tagaytay Highlands on the ground that the list of the union members included employees who are AWOL or are already dismissed. Highlands also claimed that some signatiories in the list of union members were secured through fraud. The Union counter-argued that the legitimacy of its registration cannot be subject to collateral attack and that it continues to enjoy the rights accorded to a legitimate organization until a final order of cancellation is issued. The DOLE Med-Arbiter ordered the holding of the certification election, and said that Highlands should raise issues in the exclusion-inclusion proceedings at the preelection conference. Med-Arbiter also held that Highlands failed to submit supporting documents to bolster its claim that the members should be disqualified from the union. DOLE Secretary decision: cancelled the certification election on the ground of absence of community or mutuality of interests because the Union sought to represent two separate bargaining units (supervisory and rank-and-file). Upon Motion for Reconsideration, it set aside the dismissal of the certification election and explained that supervisory and nonemployees could simply be removed from the roster of members; hence, there is no nedd to resolve the legitimacy of the unions status. CA decision: denied petition for certification election. Employer may pray for its dismissal on the ground of absence of mutuality of interest of the union members.

Issue: WON supervisory employees and non-employees could simply be removed from the roster of rank-and-file membership instead of resolving the legitimacy of the unions status (No) Prohibition of supervisory employees from joining a rank-and-file union is expressly provided for in Art. 245. And according to jurisprudence, a labor organization composed of both rank-and-file and supervisory employees is no labor organization at all. However, inclusion in a union of disqualified employees is not among the grounds for cancellation of union registration as enumerated in Art. 239. Thus, with the Union having validly issued a certification of registration, its legal personality shall continue and cannot be subject to collateral attack.