3rd DIVISION G.R. No. 183317 December 21, 2009 MARIWASA SIAM CERAMICS, INC.,
vs. THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
NACHURA, J.: petition for review on certiorari1 under Rule 45
The legitimacy of respondent as a labor organization must be affirmed. At the time of the union’s application for registration, the affiants were members and they comprised more than the required 20% membership for purposes of registration as a labor union. Article 234 of the Labor Code does not mandate that a union must maintain the 20% minimum membership requirement all throughout its existence.
To de-certify a union, it must be shown that there was misrepresentation, false statement or fraud in connection with the adoption or ratification of the constitution and by-laws or amendments thereto; the minutes of ratification; or, in connection with the election of officers, the minutes of the election of officers, the list of voters, or failure to submit these documents together with the list of the newly elected-appointed officers and their postal addresses to the BLR.
The bare fact that two signatures appeared twice on the list of those who participated in the organizational meeting is not a valid reason to cancel respondent’s certificate of registration. The cancellation of a union’s registration has an impairing dimension on the right of labor to self-organization. For fraud and misrepresentation to be grounds for cancellation of union registration , such fraud and misrepresentation must be grave and compelling enough to vitiate the consent of a majority of union members.
Respondent could not have possibly committed misrepresentation, fraud, or false statements based on the alleged failure to indicate precisely the total number of employees in the bargaining unit, more so that it was able to comply with the 20% minimum membership requirement. Even if the total number of rank-and-file employees of petitioner is 528, while respondent declared that it should only be 455, it still cannot be denied that the latter would have more than complied with the registration requirement.
