Alaban Alabang g Countr Country y Club, Club, Inc. Inc. v NLRC NLRC, Alabang Alabang Country Club Independent Employees Union, Christopher Pizarro, Michael Braza, Nolasco Castueras G! No "#$%&#' "( )ebruary %$$&' *elasco, +r, J. +r, J. Digest by Dudday UMMA!Union and Club entered into a CBA containing a Union hop and Mainten Maintenance ance o. Members Membership hip hop pro/isio pro/ision n !espon !esponden dents ts here, here, 0ho 0ere .ormer Union o1cers, 0ere .ound guilty o. mal/ersation o. public .unds 0hich caused their e2pulsion .rom the Union Union re3uested Club to terminate the !espondents pursuant to the Union hop and Maintenance o. Membership hop pro/isions o. the CBA Club conducted in/estigation and .ound that Union had cause to e2pel e2pel !espon !esponden dents, ts, thus thus Club 0as compelle compelled d to termina terminate te the !espo !esponde ndent nts s pursu pursuant ant to the the CBA CBA !espond esponden ents ts assail assail the the dismissal dismissal C held that there there 0as /alid cause cause .or terminat termination ion because Union hop and Maintenance o. Membership Membership Pro/isions ha/e ha/e been been reco recogn gniz ized ed by 4uri 4urisp spru rude denc nce e as /ali /alid d caus causes es o. termination )AC5 " !espond esponden entt Alaba Alabang ng Count Country ry Club Club Indep Independ enden entt Emplo Employe yees es Union 6Union7 is the e2clusi/e bargaining agent o. Petitioner Alabang Alabang Country Country Club, Club, Inc Inc 6Club78s 6Club78s ran9:and ran9:and:;le :;le employee employees s !espon !esponden dents ts Pizarr Pizarro, o, Braza, Braza, and Castuer Castueras as 0ere 0ere the Union Union President, *ice:President and 5reasurer in "<<=, respecti/ely
% 5he Union Union and and the the Club Club enter entered ed into into a Colle Collecti cti/e /e Bargain Bargaining ing Agreement in "<<< 0hich had pro/isions " .or a union shop and maintenance o. membership shop > In %$$", a ne0 set o. Union o1cers o1cers 0as elected elected ?uring ?uring the conduct o. audit o. the Union .unds by these ne0 o1cers, some irreg irregula ularly rly recor recorde ded d entr entries ies,, unacco unaccoun unte ted d e2pe e2pens nses es and disburse disbursemen ments, ts, and uncollec uncollected ted loans loans .rom the Union .unds 0ere disco/ered ubse3uently, Pizarro, Braza, and Castueras 0ere in.ormed o. the audit results and 0ere as9ed to e2plain in 0riting the discrepancies .ound a Braza denied any 0rongdoing 0rongdoing and instead instead as9ed that the in/estigation be addressed to Castueras 0ho 0as the Union 5reasur 5reasurer er at tat time time b Piz Pizar arrro also also blam blamed ed Cast Castue uera ras s .or .or his his unp unpaid aid and and uncol uncolle lecte cted d loan loan and cash cash ad/anc ad/ances, es, claimi claiming ng that that his salaries 0ere regularly regularly deducted to pay his loan and that he does not 9no0 0hy there remained unpaid in the records c Castueras also also denied any any 0rongdoing 0rongdoing and claimed claimed that the the irregular irregular entries in the records 0ere unintentional and 0ere due to inad/ertence because o. his /oluminous 0or9 ( ?espite ?espite their their e2planat e2planations, ions, !espon !esponden dents ts Pizarr Pizarro, o, Braza, Braza, and Castueras Castueras 0ere e2pelle e2pelled d .rom .rom the Union Union and 0ere 0ere .urnishe .urnished d " A!5IC@E IIUNIN ECU!I5EC5IN % CMPU@!- UNIN MEMBE!DIP )! NE !EGU@A! !ANFAN?)I@E EMP@-EE a7 Ne0 regular ran9and;le employees o. the Club shall 4oin the UNIN 0ithin ;/e 67 days .rom the date o. their appointment as regular employees as a condition .or their continued employment during the li.etime o. this Agreement, other0ise, their .ailure to do so shall be a ground .or dismissal .rom the C@UB upon demand by the UNIN 2222 EC5IN EC5IN ( 5E!MINA5IN 5E!MINA5IN UPN UNIN UNIN ?EMAN? ?EMAN? Upon 0ritten 0ritten demand o. the UNIN and a.ter obser/ing due process, the Club shall dismiss a regular ran9and;le employee on any o. the .ollo0ing groundsH 6a7 )ailure to 4oin the UNIN 0ithin ;/e 67 days .rom the time o. regularization 6b7 !esignation .rom the UNIN, e2cept 0ithin the period allo0ed by la0 6c7 Con/iction o. a crime in/ol/ing moral turpitude 6d7 Nonpayment o. UNIN dues, .ees, and assessments 6e7 +oining another UNIN e2cept 0ithin the period allo0ed by la0 6.7 Mal/ersation o. union .unds 6g7 Acti/ely campaigning to discourage membership in the UNIN and 6h7 InJicting harm or in4ury to any member or o1cer o. the UNIN It is understood that the UNIN shall hold the C@UB .ree and harmless sic .rom any liability or damage 0hatsoe/er 0hich may be imposed upon it by any competent 4udicial or 3uasi4udicial authority as a result o. such dismissal and the UNIN shall reimburse the C@UB C@UB .or any and all liability or damage it may be ad4udged
indi/idual letters o. e2pulsion .or mal/ersation o. Union .unds 5he Union then in/o9ed the ecurity Clause o. the CBA and demanded that the Club dismiss !espondents in /ie0 o. their e2pulsion .rom the Union 5he Club re3uired the !espondents to sho0 cause in 0riting 0ithin (& hours .rom notice 0hy they should not be dismissed All three submitted their e2planations 5he Club8s general manager also called the three !espondents .or an in.ormal con.erence to in3uire about the charges against them !espondents ga/e their e2planation and claimed that the charges against them are baseless 5he General Manager then announced that he 0ould conduct a .ormal in/estigation = A.ter 0eighing the /erbal and 0ritten e2planations o. the !espondents, Club concluded that they .ailed to re.ute the /alidity o. their e2pulsion .rom the Union 5hus, the Club 0as constrained to terminate the employment o. the !espondents pursuant to 0hich notices o. termination 0ere sent to the !espondent on ?ecember %=, %$$" # !espondents then ;led a complaint .or illegal dismissal in the N@!C a @A ruled in .a/or o. the Club and .ound that there 0as 4usti;able cause in termination the !espondents b N@!C re/ersed the @A and granted the appeal o. the !espondents, ruling that there 0as no 4usti;able cause .or the termination N@!C relied on ection % %, !ule K*III, o. the @abor Code I!!, and held that the e2pulsion .rom the Union 0as illegal since the ?@E had not yet made any de;niti/e ruling on their liability regarding the administration o. the Union .unds c CA upheld the N@!C !uling, .ocusing mainly on the Club8s .ailure to aLord due process to the !espondents It .ound that the dismissal o. the !espondents 0as contrary to the doctrine laid do0n in Malayang Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa M. Greenfeld v Ramos 6Malayang Samahan7 that e/en on the assumption that the Union had /alid grounds to e2pel the local Union o1cers, due process re3uires that the Union o1cers be accorded a separate % EC % Actions arising .rom Article %(" o. the Code Any action arising .rom the administration or accounting o. union .unds shall be ;led and disposed o. as an intra:union dispute in accordance 0ith !ule KI* o. this Boo9In case o. /iolation, the !egional or Bureau ?irector shall order the responsible o1cer to render an accounting o. .unds be.ore the general membership and may, 0here circumstances 0arrant, mete the appropriate penalty to the erring o1cers, including suspension or e2pulsion .rom the union
hearing by the employer company as re3uired by ec %6b7 >, !ule KKIII, Boo9 * o. the @abor Code I!! & Dence, the present petition be.ore the upreme Court IUE " hether the three !espondents 0ere illegally dismissed No % hether they 0ere aLorded due process : -es !U@ING AN? !A5I " !espondents 0ere /alidly dismissed pursuant to the Union hop and the Maintenance o. Membership hop pro/isions o. the CBA hile the @abor Code recognizes only 4ust causes under Article %&%, authorized causes under Article %&>, termination due to disease under Article %&(, and termination by employee or resignation under Article %& as the grounds .or termination, another cause .or termination recognized by 4urisprudence is dismissal .rom employment due to the en.orcement o. the Union ecurity Clause in the CBA 5here is union shop 0hen all ne0 regular employees are re3uired to 4oin the union 0ithin a certain period as a condition .or their continued employment 5here is maintenance o. membership shop 0hen employees 0ho are union members as o. the eLecti/e date o. the agreement, or 0ho therea.ter become members, must maintain union membership as a condition .or continued employment until they are promoted or trans.erred out o. the bargaining unit or the agreement is terminated 5his practice strengthens the union and pre/ents disunity in the bargaining unit 0ithin the duration o. the CBA By pre/enting member disa1liation 0ith the threat o. e2pulsion .rom the union and the conse3uent termination o. employment, the authorized bargaining representati/e gains more numbers and strengthens its position as against other unions 0hich may 0ant to claim ma4ority representation 5he re3uisites to constitute 4ust cause .or terminating an employee based on CBAs Union ecurity Pro/ision 0hich must be determined and pro/ed by the employer areH a the union security clause is applicable > EC % tandards o. due process re3uirements o. notice In all cases o. termination o. employment, the .ollo0ing standards o. due process shall be substantially obser/edH)or termination o. employment based on 4ust causes as de;ned in Article %&% o. the CodeH 2222 6b7 A hearing or con.erence during 0hich the employee concerned, 0ith the assistance o. counsel i. the employee so desires, is gi/en opportunity to respond to the charge, present his e/idence or rebut the e/idence presented against him
b the union is re3uesting .or the en.orcement o. the union security pro/ision in the CBA c there is su1cient e/idence to support the unions decision to e2pel the employee .rom the union In the case at barH the language o. Article II o. the CBA is une3ui/ocal that the Union members must maintain their membership in good standing as a condition sine qua non .or their continued employment and it is also clear that upon demand by the Union and a.ter due process, the Club shall terminate the employment o. the employee .ound liable .or any o. the oLenses stated therein !espondents 0ere e2pelled .rom and by the Union a.ter due in/estigation .or acts o. dishonesty and mal/ersation o. Union .unds 5he Union properly re3uested the Club to en.orce the Union ecurity pro/ision in the CBA to terminate the !espondents In compliance 0ith the Union8s re3uest, the Club re/ie0ed the documents and re3uested e2planations .rom !espondents nly a.ter it had determined that there 0as su1cient e/idence that the !espondents mal/ersed Union .unds did the Club dismissed them .rom their employment
% 5here is substantial compliance 0ith the due process re3uirements Malayang Samahan case, 0here the upreme Court pronounced that 0hile the company, under a maintenance o. membership pro/ision o. the CBA, is bound to dismiss any employee e2pelled by the union .or disloyalty upon its 0ritten re3uest, this underta9ing should not be done hastily and summarily, lest the company 0ill be acting in bad .aith in dismissing a 0or9er 0ithout gi/ing him the bene;t o. a hearing, is not applicable in the present case 5he Club has substantially complied 0ith due process 5he three respondents 0ere noti;ed that their dismissal 0as being re3uested by the Union, and their e2planations 0ere heard 6unli9e in the Malayang Samahan case 0here both the union and the company did not conducted administrati/e hearings7 5hen, the Club, through its President, con.erred 0ith said respondents during the last 0ee9 o. ctober %$$" 5he three respondents 0ere dismissed only a.ter the Club re/ie0ed and considered the documents submitted by the Union /isa/is the 0ritten e2planations submitted by said respondents Petition GRANTED. Valid dismissal.
NLRC
REVERSED AND SET ASIDE.
