G.R. No. 85279
July 28, 1989
Case Principle
Government employees may form unions or association, but are prohibited from staging a strike.
Facts
- Petitioner who are government employees assail whether or not they have the right to strike and whether or not the respondents can prohibit them in conducting strikes.
- Petitioner’s staged strike for:
- Implementation of the old CBA
- Payment of overtime pay, night differential, and holiday pay
- Regularization of temporary employees
- Payment of children’s allowance
- SSS filed with the RTC a complaint for damages against petitioners who staged a strike and praying that petitioners be enjoined from striking that they should be ordered to return from work.
- The complaint was granted by the RTC which was affirmed by the CA. Hence, this petition.
- Petitioners contend that RTC has no jurisdiction since the jurisdiction lies with the DOLE or NLRC.
- On the other hand, respondent contended that the RTC has jurisdiction since the employees of the SSS are covered by civil service laws and rules and regulations, not the Labor Code, therefore they do not have the right to strike.
Issue
Whether or not the respondents have the right to strike.
Held
The respondents does not have the right to strike.
Under Article XIII, Section 3, the State “shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law.” The provision may seem that the right to strike is granted to both private and public employees. However, the Constitution in Article IX (B) Section 2 (1) provides that the “[t]he right to self-organization shall not be denied to government employees.”
The intent of the framers of the Constitution provides that right of government employees to organize is limited to the right to the formation of unions or associations only, and does not include the right to strike.
A memorandum circular issued by the CSC enjoins under pain of administrative sanctions, all government officers and employees from staging strikes demonstrations, mass leaves, walk-outs and other forms of mass action which will result in temporary stoppage or disruption of public service.
The rationale distinguishing between workers in the private sector and government employees with regard to the right to strike is that the terms and conditions of government employment are governed by law. Hence, government workers cannot use the same weapons employed by worker in the private sector to secure concessions from their employers.
However, government employees are not without recourse. EO No 180 provides that government employees may, therefore, through their unions or associations, either petition the Congress for the betterment of the terms and conditions of employment which are within the ambit of legislation or negotiate with the appropriate government agencies for the improvement of those which are not fixed by law. Or refer the matters to referred to the Public Sector Labor- Management Council for appropriate actions.
In this case, SSS is one such government-controlled corporation with an original charter, having been created under R.A. No. 1161, its employees are part of the civil service and are covered by the Civil Service Commission’s memorandum prohibiting strikes. This being the case, the strike staged by the employees of the SSS was illegal.