Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 389, June 2019

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 79. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns allegations of anti-union practices, including anti-union dismissals and harassment, and the failure of the authorities to take corrective measures, at its November 2017 meeting [see 383rd Report, paras 561–591]. On that occasion, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 383rd Report, para. 591]:
   • (a) The Committee requests the Government to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegation that more than 180 workers were terminated on the grounds of their involvement in the establishment of the union or their affiliation to the union, and, should it be found that they were dismissed for anti-union reasons, to take, as a matter of urgency, the necessary measures to ensure their full reinstatement without loss of pay, or, in the event that reinstatement is found to be no longer possible, for objective and compelling reasons, to take the necessary measures to ensure that the union officers and members concerned are paid adequate compensation which would represent a sufficiently dissuasive sanction for anti-union dismissals. In this regard, and with reference to the deadlock reached according to the Government in 2016, the Committee encourages the Government to actively intercede with the parties, including within the framework of the ongoing conciliation-mediation proceedings, with a view to promoting a mutually satisfactory solution to this enduring dispute and related hardship.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to initiate an independent inquiry into the allegation that 58 workers were dismissed for having exercised their right to strike, and if found to be true, to take appropriate remedial measures. It also requests the Government to provide information as to the outcome of the compulsory arbitration proceedings before the NLRC concerning the illegality of the union’s strike action.
   • (c) The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures so that, in the future, appeals of administrative dissolution orders have a suspensive effect.
   • (d) The Committee invites the Government, when interacting with the parties, to seek to foster a climate of dialogue and trust between the union and management, with a view to restoring harmonious labour relations and promoting meaningful collective bargaining.
2. 80. The Government provides its observations in a communication dated 31 January 2018. Regarding the allegation that more than 180 workers were terminated on the grounds of their involvement in the establishment of the United Workers of Citra Mina Group of Companies Union (UWCMGCU), it indicates that the matter is already under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) Sub-Regional Arbitration Branch XII. The Government emphasizes in this regard that the NLRC is an independent quasi-judicial body aiming to promote and maintain industrial peace by resolving labour and management disputes involving both local and overseas workers through compulsory arbitration and alternative methods of dispute resolution. It is attached to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for programme and policy coordination and its commissioners are appointed on recommendation of tripartite sectors. The Government further affirms that since the onset of the labour dispute, all possible services and assistance have been rendered thereto, demonstrating the efforts to address and resolve the dispute and that, to date, conciliation and meditation are still exercised between the parties with a view to achieving a win-win solution. Since the NLRC is currently addressing the matter, conducting an independent inquiry would only duplicate the proceedings.
3. 81. With regard to the allegation that 58 workers were dismissed for exercising their right to strike, the Government states that conducting an independent inquiry would constitute a duplication of proceedings since the case is also under the jurisdiction of the NLRC. It adds that a decision dated 7 November 2016 by the Executive Labor Arbiter Jocelyn Vasallo, declaring the 2013 strike illegal, and directing the company to pay the 12 respondent strikers their separation pay of one-month salary for every year of service on humanitarian grounds, is on appeal.
4. 82. Concerning the Committee’s request to ensure that appeals of administrative dissolution orders have a suspensive effect, the Government informs that under the existing rules, such appeals already have a suspensive effect. The legal effect of cancellation of a union’s registration is held in abeyance until the order becomes final and executory so that, pending the appeal, the union retains its judicial personality. The Government further indicates with regard to the particular case of the UWCMGCU, that, although it had been delisted, this did not result in the cancellation of its registration as the union remained entitled to the rights granted under the Labor Code.
5. 83. Finally, the Government states that fostering a climate of dialogue and trust between the parties is already inherent to its tasks. It emphasizes that DOLE’s mandate to maintain a harmonious, equitable and stable labour relations system was also reiterated in the current Eight-Point Labor and Employment Agenda and that all efforts directed towards attaining and sustaining decent work and industrial peace are anchored on the social justice principles of dialogue and mutual trust between workers and employers.
6. 84. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government and observes, in particular, the Government’s indication that the allegations of massive dismissals of trade unionists, both on the ground of their involvement in the establishment of the trade union and for their participation in the strike, are under the examination of the NLRC, an independent quasi-judicial body under the auspices of the DOLE. The Committee furthers notes that conciliation-meditation efforts are still ongoing and that, according to the Government, all possible services and assistance have been rendered thereto. While taking due note of this information, the Committee cannot but regret that, notwithstanding a considerable lapse of time (more than five years since the alleged incidents), the proceedings at the national level have yet to give rise to a comprehensive resolution of the concrete dispute and the serious allegations of mass terminations on trade union grounds remain unresolved. Recalling in this regard that justice delayed is justice denied [see Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, para. 170], the Committee trusts that the proceedings before the NLRC will fully examine all anti-union allegations raised by the complainant, that the NLRC will render its decisions without delay and that, if the allegations are found to be true, the Government will take the appropriate remedial measures. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the NLRC’s decisions as soon as they are handed down, as well as of the outcome of the mediation-conciliation proceedings ongoing between the parties. Further noting that the 2016 decision of the labour arbiter declaring the union’s strike action illegal is now on appeal before the NLRC, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the appeal. The Committee trusts that, when interacting with the parties, the Government will continue to foster a climate of dialogue and trust between the union and the management, with a view to restoring harmonious labour relations and promoting meaningful collective bargaining.
7. 85. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that under the existing rules, appeals of administrative dissolution orders have a suspensive effect on the cancellation of union registration, so that, despite being delisted from the legitimate labour union register, as was the case of the UWCMGCU, the union remains entitled to the rights granted under the Labor Code. Nevertheless, in view of the concerns raised by the complainant as to the serious consequences delisting from the register may have on the functioning of a trade union, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in the future, appeals of administrative dissolution orders have a suspensive effect on both the cancellation of a trade union’s registration and its delisting from the legitimate labour union register.