ARELLANO UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS UNION vs CA Case Digest

ARELLANO UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS UNION vs. COURT OF APPEALS 502 SCRA 219 (2006) FACTS: The Arellano University Employees and Workers Union (the Union), the exclusive bargaining representative of about 380 rank-and-file employees of Arellano University, Inc. (the University), filed with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) a Notice of Strike charging the University with Unfair Labor Practice (ULP). After several controversies and petitions, a strike was staged. Upon the lifting of the strike, the University filed a Petition to Declare the Strike Illegal before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). The NLRC issued a Resolution holding that the University was not guilty of ULP. Consequently, the strike was declared illegal. All the employees who participated in the illegal strike were thereafter declared to have lost their employment status. ISSUE: Whether or not an employee is deemed to have lost his employment by mere participation in an illegal strike HELD: Under Article 264 of the Labor Code, an ordinary striking worker may not be declared to have lost his employment status by mere participation in an illegal strike. There must be proof that he knowingly participated in the commission of illegal acts during the strike. While the University adduced photographs showing strikers picketing outside the university premises, it failed to identify who they were. It thus failed to meet the substantiality of evidence test applicable in dismissal cases. With respect to the union officers, as already discussed, their mere participation in the illegal strike warrants their dismissal.