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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES/
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 1518

Introduced by TUCP Party-List
Rep. 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 emphasizes
workers’ right to establish and join organizations of their choosing “subject only to the
tules of the organization concerned, xxx without previous authorization.

The Philippine Labor Code, however, has many provisions found by the ILO Committee
of Experts in the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) as prior
restraint in the exercise of the freedom of association and inconsistent with the ILO
Convention No. 87. Among the key findings is the excessive registration requirement for
independent union, which is 20 percent minimum membership in Article 240(c), and the
ten locals/chapters requirement for registration of a federation or national union in
Article 244

Hence, this Bill proposes to remove the 20 percent minimum membership requirement
for registration of independent unions, and the ten unions or locals for federations or
national unions are lowered to five. An independent union or a local/chapter only has to
give notice of its creation to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to be
entitled to the rights and privileges of a legitimate labor organization to appropriately
reflect the policy that ‘registration’ of unions is ministerial on the part of DOLE.

Additionally, the Bill emphasizes that the union constitution and by-laws, not
administrative authority or regulation, should govern the elections of union officers. The
same principle applies to the cancellation, now dissolution, of a union or labor
organization.

The passage of this Bill is earnestly sought

Mi
Representative, TUCP Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

1518

House Bill No.

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

AN ACT
STRENGTHENING UNION ORGANIZATION AND DISALLOWING
CANCELLATION OF UNION REGISTRATION, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE
PRESIDENTIAL 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”.

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

“Chapter!
[Registration and Cancellation] UNION FORMATION AND DISSOLUTION”

Section 3. Notice of Union Formation. — Article 240, formerly 234, of the Labor
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 240. 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;

I(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 241-A, formerly 234-A, of the Labor Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE. 241-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 242, formerly 235, of the Labor Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 242. 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 244, formerly 237, of the Labor Code is hereby amended
to read as follows:

“Article 244. Additional requirements for federations or national unions.
[Subject to Article 238, if the applicant for registration is a] A federation
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)] FIVE (5) 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

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(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 245, formerly 238, of the Labor
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 245. [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 in] IN ACCORDANCE WITH
Article 247, formerly 239, hereof.”

Section 8. Effect of a Petition to Delist a Legitimate Labor Organization. —
Article 246, formerly 238-A, of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 246. Effect of a Petition [for Cancellation of Registration] TO
DELIST A LABOR ORGANIZATION. - A petition [for cancellation of] TO
DELIST A union [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 248, formerly 239-A, of the Labor Code
is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 248. Voluntary [Cancellation of Registration] DISSOLUTION. —
[The registration of a] A legitimate 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 250, formerly 241 (c), of the Labor
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ARTICLE 250. Rights and conditions of membership in a labor
organization. - The following are the rights and conditions of membership in
a labor organization:

XXX XXX
(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

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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 and regulations 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,