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Republic of the Philippines - Ke
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES “4 : CEIVED
Quezon City | S o@-7FEB 2014

4

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS ‘
First Regular Session

House Bitt No.403 1

Introduced by TUCP Party-List Representative
RAYMOND DEMOCRITO C. MENDOZA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The right to self organization is a universal human and workers’ right as embodied in
the ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association. The Convention gives
emphasis to workers’ right to establish and to join organizations of their own
choosing. This right is “subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, xxx
without previous authorization”. It does not allow the State to restrict this right or to
impede its lawful exercise.

The Labor Code has many effective restrictions in the process of union formation.
The government exerts too much interference from union registration to election of
union officers to union cancellation. This bill will address those issues to effectuate
the right of workers to self-organization.

‘An independent union or a local/chapter only has to give notice of its creation to the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to acquire legal personality and be
entitled to the rights and privileges of a legitimate labor organization. The 20 percent
minimum membership requirement for creation of independent unions is removed
and the ten unions or locals for federations or national unions islowered to two. This
upholds the principle that the ‘registration’ of unions is only ministerial on the part of
DOLE. This proposal is seen as the only efficient and expeditious administrative
mechanism to implement the said policy.

The union constitution and by-laws, not administrative authority or regulation,
should govern elections for union officers. The same principle applies to cancellation,
now dissolution, of an organization.

This bill also serves to void the unconscionable current practice of authorizing any
employee the right to intervene in a certification election and requiring a
local/chapter to submit to the DOLE its certificate of creation at least five (5) working
days before the date of certification election.

This bill is part of a series of proposed amendments to the Labor Code addressing
the observations by the Committee of Experts of the ILO as highlighted by the ILO
High Level Mission to the Philippines on 22-29 September 2009 on violations of
freedom of association faced by Filipino workers.

IND BEMOCRITO C. MENDOZA
Representative, TUCP Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FirstRegular Session

House Bill No. 40.3.1

Introduced by TUCP Party-List Representative
RAYMOND DEMOCRITO C. MENDOZA

AN ACT
STRENGTHENING UNION ORGANIZATION AND DISALLOWING CANCELLATION OF
UNION REGISTRATION, AMENDING FOR THEPURPOSEPRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO.
442, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE
PHILIPPINES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1.Short Title.~ This Act shall be known as the “Union Formation Act of 2010".

Section 2.Title of Chapter I, Title IV, Book V. ~ Title of Chapter I, Title IV of Book V of
the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follow:

“Chapter I
[REGISTRATION AND CANCELLATION] UNION FORMATION AND DISSOLUTION”

Section 3.Notice of Union Formation.—Article 234 of the Labor Code Is hereby amended
to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 234.Requirements of [Registration] NOTIFICATION. ~ A federation,
national union or industry or trade union center or an independent union shall acquire legal
personality and shall be entitled to the rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate
labor organizations upon [issuance of the certificate of registration based on]GIVING
NOTICE OF ITS FORMATION WITH the following requirements:

(a) Fifty pesos (P50.00) [registration] NOTIFICATION fee;
(b) The names of its officers, their addresses, the principal address of the labor

organization, the minutes of the organizational meetings and the list of the workers who
participated in such meetings;

[(c) In case the applicant is an independent union, the names of all its members comprising
at least twenty percent (20%) of all the employees in the bargaining unit where it seeks to
operate;]

(c) If the [applicant] NOTIFYING union has been in existence for one or more years, copies
of its annual financial reports; and

(d) Four copies of the constitution and by-laws of the [applicant]NOTIFYING union, minutes
of its adoption or ratification, and the list of the members who participated in it.”

Section 4. Removing the Documentary Requirements for Chartering and Creation
of Local Chapters. - Article 234-A of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE.234-A. Chartering and Creation of a Local Chapter. - A duly registered
federation or national union may directly create a local chapter by issuing a charter
certificate indicating the establishment of the local chapter. The chapter shall acquire legal
personality [only for purposes of filing a petition for certification election] from the date it
was issued a charter certificate AND SHALL BE ENTITLED TO THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
OF A LEGITIMATE LABOR ORGANIZATION UPON SUBMISSION OF ITS CHARTER
CERTIFICATE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT.”


Section 5.Action on Notification. — Article 235 of the Labor Code is hereby amended to
read as follows:

“ARTICLE 235.Action on [application] NOTIFICATION.The LABOR RELATIONS
DIVISION IN THE REGIONAL OFFICE OR THE Bureau, AS THE CASE MAY BE, shall act on all
[applications for registration]NOTICES OF UNION FORMATION AND INCLUDE THE
NOTIFYING UNIONS IN THE ROSTER OF LEGITIMATE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS within [thirty
(30)] TEN (10) days from [filing] RECEIPT OF NOTICE THEREOF.

All requisite documents and papers shall be certified under oath by the secretary or the
treasurer of the organization, as the case may be, and attested to by its president.”

Section 6.Lowering the Number of Trade Unions to Establish Federations or
National Unions. — Article 237 of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“article 237.Additional requirements for federations or national unions.[Subject to
Article 238, if the applicant for registration is a]Afederation or a national union, [it] shall, in
addition to the requirements of the preceding Articles, submit the following:

(a) Proof of the affiliation of at least [ten (10)]TWO (2) locals or chapters, each of which
must be a duly recognized collective bargaining agent in the establishment or industry in
which it operates, supporting the registration of such applicant federation or national union;
and

(b) The names and addresses of the companies where the locals or chapters operate and
the list of all the members in each company involved.”

Section 7.No Dissolution of Legitimate Labor Organizations by the Department of
Labor and Employment. -Article 238 of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“ARTICLE 238.[Cancellation of Registration] DISSOLUTION OF A LEGITIMATE
LABOR ORGANIZATION. - [The certificate of registration of any] A legitimate labor
‘organization, whether national or local, may be [cancelled]DISSOLVED AND MAY BE
DELISTED by the Bureau, after due hearing, [only on the grounds specified inJIN
ACCORDANCE WITH Article 239-A hereof.”

Section 8.Effect of a Petition to Delist a Legitimate Labor Organization. - Article
238-A of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 238-A. Effect of a Petition [for Cancellation of Registration] TO DELIST A
LABOR ORGANIZATION. - A petition [for cancellation of]TO DELIST Aunion
[registration]FROM THE ROSTER OF LEGITIMATE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS shall not suspend
the proceedings for certification election nor shall it prevent the filing of a petition for
certification election.

In case of [cancellation] DELISTING, nothing herein shall restrict the right of the union to
seek just and equitable remedies in the appropriate courts.”

Section 9.Voluntary Dissolution. - Article 239-A of the Labor Code is hereby amended to
read as follows:

“ARTICLE 239-A. Voluntary [Cancellation of Registration] DISSOLUTION.-[The
registration of aJAlegitimate labor organization may be [cancelled]DISSOLVED by the
organization itself: Provided, That at least two-thirds of its general membership votes, in a
meeting duly called for that purpose to dissolve the organization: Provided, further, That an
application to [cancel registration]DELIST THE ORGANIZATION FROM THE ROSTER OF
LEGITIMATE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS is thereafter submitted by the board of the
organization, attested to by the president thereof.”

Section 10.Election of Union Officers. - Article 241(c) of the Labor Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 241.Rights and conditions of membership in a labor organization. - The
following are the rights and conditions of membership in a labor organization:

YOO 100

(c) The members shall [directly] DULY elect their officers, including those of the national
union or federation, to which they or their union is affiliated, [by secret ballot] IN


ACCORDANCE WITH THE UNION CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS at intervals of five (5)
years. No qualification requirements for candidacy to any position shall be imposed other
than membership in good standing in subject labor organization. The secretary or any other
responsible union officer shall furnish the Secretary of Labor and Employment with a list of
the newly-elected officers, together with the appointive officers or agents who are entrusted
with the handling of funds, within thirty (30) calendar days after the election of officers or
from the occurrence of any change in the list of officers of the labor organization.”

Section 11.Separability Provisions.-- If any part of this Act is held invalid or declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other parts
thereof.

Section 12.Repealing Clause.—Articles 236 and 239 of the Labor Code are hereby
repealed. All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules andregulations or parts thereof, which
are inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 13.Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
at least two newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,