De La Salle University v.

De La Salle University Employees Association and

Buenaventura Magsalin

G.r. No. 109002, April 12, 2000

Title: Effect of Prior Agreements; Non-parties Effect

Facts: The De La Salle University (UNIVERSITY) and the De La Salle University

Employees Association (UNION) entered into a collective bargaining agreement with
a period of three (3) years. During the freedom period, of sixty (60) days before the
expiration of the said CBA, the UNION initiated negotiations with the UNIVERSITY to
have a new CBA which, however, turned out to be unsuccessful. Thereafter, a partial
CBA was executed by the parties in which there were still several issues that remain
unresolved and one of those issues was the scope of bargaining unit wherein it
is being disputed whether Computer Operators and discipline officers of the
UNIVERSITY can be a member of the bargaining unit since the formers function
merely include clerical and routinary work and was not engaged in the setting of
management policies for the UNIVERSITY, and the latter belong to the rank-and-file
employees by reason of the nature of their job, respectively.

The UNIVERSITY argued that computer operators and discipline officers are
confidential employees, and that the UNION has already recognized the confidential
nature of their functions when the latter agreed in the parties CBA to exclude the
said employees for the bargaining unit of rank-and-file employees. They further
contended that the nature of the work of computer operators is a sufficient
justification to exclude them from the CBA since they are engaged in the keeping of
confidential records and information of the university, including those relating to
labor relations, and that discipline officers are alter egos of management as they
perform tasks which are inherent in the management of the university.

Issue: Whether or not prior agreements in the collective bargaining agreement of

excluding computer operators and discipline officers from bargaining unit of rank-
and-file employees bar any amendments or modifications thereto.

Held: No, prior agreements in the collective bargaining agreement of excluding

such employees from bargaining unit of rank-and-file employees does not bar any
amendments or modifications in the said CBA.

The Court explained that, the express exclusion of the computer operators and
discipline officers from the bargaining unit of rank-and-file employees in the 1986
collective bargaining agreement does not bar any re-negotiation for the future
inclusion of the said employees in the bargaining unit. During the freedom period,
the parties may not only renew the existing collective bargaining agreement but
may also propose and discuss modifications or amendments thereto.
University of the Philippines v. Hon. Ferrer-Calleja, Director of the Bureau
of Labor Relations, DOLE, and THE ALL U.P. WORKERS UNION

G.r. No. 96189, July 14, 1992

Title: Determination of Appropriate Bargaining Unit; Factors-Unit

Determination; Geography Location

Facts: The organization of the non-academic personnel of the U.P. filed a

petition for certification election, and in that proceeding, the private respondent,
another registered labor union, intervened. Private respondent union, although it
aims to unite all U.P. rank-and-file employees in one union, assented to the holding
of the said certification election provided that the appropriate organizational unit
must first be clearly defined.

The view of the university regarding the said matter is that, there should be two (2)
unions: one for academic personnel, and another one for non-academic personnel.

Director Calleja ruled that there should only be one organizational unit for rank-and-
file employees, whether teaching or non-teaching personnel.

Thereafter, the University sought to exclude from the bargaining unit the teaching
staff with the rank of Assistant, Associate, and Full-time Professor since they are
included in the policy-making body of the university and thus, cannot be joined in
the labor union.

Regarding such matter, Director Calleja said that those teachers are rank-and-file
employees and thus, qualified to join union, since their policy-making powers are
limited to academic matters, such as prescribing courses of study and
recommending to the Board of Regents the conferment of degrees, among others.

Issue: Whether or not Associate, Assistant, and Full-time professors should

comprise a collective bargaining unit distinct and different from the non-academic
employees of the University on the ground of the dichotomy of interests, conditions
and rules existing between them.

Held: Yes, the said teaching staff should comprise a collective bargaining unit
distinct and different form the non-academic employees. The Court explained that
(t)he test of the grouping is community or mutuality of interests. And this is so
because the basic test of an asserted bargaining units acceptability is whether or
not it is fundamentally the combination which will best assure to all employees the
exercise of their collective bargaining rights.
The Court further said that, (i)n the case at bar, the University employees may xxx
quite easily be categorized into two classes: one, the group composed of employees
whose functions are non-academic, i.e., janitors, messengers, typists, clerks,
receptionists, carpenters, electricians, ground-keepers, chauffeurs, mechanics,
plumbers, and two, the group made up of those performing academic functions, i.e.,
full professors, associate professors, assistant professors, instructorswho may be
judges or government executives and research, extension and professorial staff.
Not much reflection is needed to perceive that the community or mutuality of
interests which justifies the formation of a single collective bargaining unit is
wanting between the academic and non-academic personnel of the university. xxx
(t)he dichotomy of interests, the dissimilarity in the nature of the work and duties as
well as in the compensation and working conditions of the academic and non-
academic personnel dictate the separation of these two categories of employees for
purposes of collective bargaining. The formation of two separate bargaining units,
the first containing of the rank-and-file non-academic personnel, and the second, of
the rank-and-file academic employees, is the set-up that will best assure to all the
employees the exercise of their collective bargaining rights. (emphasis supplied)