CA junks ALPAP plea, affirms strike’s illegality

The Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling by the Department of Labor and Employment declaring as “illegal” the 1998 strike by the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines (ALPAP) that crippled Philippine Airlines.

The appellate court also affirmed the Labor Department’s verdict that the strikers had lost their employment status at PAL.

In a 15-page decision, the CA’s Special Tenth Division dismissed for lack of merit ALPAP’s petition to have the June 1, 1999 resolution of then Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma overturned.

“Having participated in a prohibited activity, an illegal strike, PAL rightfully declared them (the strikers) to have abandoned their work, the end result of which is the forfeiture of their employment status,” the tribunal said.

In resolving the case, the CA consolidated the long-running dispute into three main issues – whether the strike was illegal or not; whether the union was in receipt of the return-to-work order; and whether the strikers had lost their employment status with PAL.

The court ruled against ALPAP on all three counts.

On the first issue, the justices scored ALPAP for failing to comply with the requirements of a valid strike under the Labor Code, thus prejudicing PAL and the DOLE, which had earlier assumed jurisdiction over the dispute, as well as the riding public.

“(The union) took matters into its own hands and struck in clear defiance of the assumption order. Verily, the procedural transgressions (by ALPAP) were not motivated by good faith,” the CA said.

On ALPAP’s contention that they did not receive the DOLE’s back-to-work order until nearly three weeks later, the court said:

"(The union) deliberately avoided service of the order until after creating unnecessary damage to PAL. A party cannot refuse to accept summons…and thereafter claim non-receipt thereof. This is a clear manipulation of procedural technicalities which cannot be tolerated lest the ends of substantial justice be trampled upon.”

Finally, the appellate court pointed out that the Labor Code expressly prohibits the staging of a strike or lockout after the secretary of labor assumes jurisdiction over the dispute.

“Consequently, a strike held in violation of (this) proscription is illegal and the union officers and its members who participated therein are, as a result, deemed to have lost their employment status,” it ruled.

ALPAP, which represents nearly the entire PAL pilot corps, struck at around 5:30 p.m. of June 5, 1998 despite two previous orders from the DOLE strictly prohibiting such action while it assumed jurisdiction over the dispute.

On June 7, 1998, the DOLE issued a return-to-work order, expiring 24 hours after receipt, but the department was unable to serve this on ALPAP because the latter’s counsel repeatedly snubbed it.

ALPAP finally consented to receive the return-to-work order on June 25, 1998, when it unilaterally declared an end to the strike.