364 Phil. 133
PURISIMA, J.:
"Article XII - The [C]ompany agrees to advance to the Union a sum equivalent to 10% of the sum total of all the salary increases and signing bonuses granted to the Supervisors under this collective Bargaining Agreement and upon signing hereof to cover the Union's incidental expenses, including attorney's fees and representation expenses for its organization and (sic) preparation and conduct hereof, and such advance shall be deducted from the benefits granted herein as they accrue."On September 19, 1990, Petitioners[4] filed with the Bureau of Labor Relations, DOLE-NCR, Quezon City, a Complaint against the Union Officers[5] and ABS-CBN Broadcasting corporation, praying that (1) the special assessment of ten percent (10%) of the sum total of all salary increases and signing bonuses granted by respondent Company to the members of the Union be declared illegal for failure to comply with the labor Code, as amended, particularly Article 241, paragraphs (g), (n), and (o); and in utter violation of the Constitution and By-Laws of the ABS-CBN Supervisors Employees Union; (2) respondent Company be ordered to suspend further deductions from petitioners' salaries for their shares thereof.
"WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered:On appeal, respondent DOLE Undersecretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma handed down a Decision[7] on July 1, 1991, disposing as follows:
a) declaring the special assessment of 10% of the sum total of CBA benefits as illegal;
b) ordering respondents union officers to refund to the complainants and other union members the amount of five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000.00) advanced by the respondent Company as part of the 10% sum total of CBA benefits without unnecessary delay;
c) ordering the respondent company to stop and desist from further making advances and deductions from the union members' salaries their share in the advances already made to the union;
d) ordering the respondent Company to remit directly to the complainants and other union members the amount already deducted from the union members' salaries as part of their share in the advances already made to the union and which it had kept in trust during the pendency of this case; and
e) directing the respondents union officers and respondent Company to submit report on the compliance thereof.
SO ORDERED."
"WHEREFORE, the appeals are hereby denied, the Order of the Med-Arbiter is affirmed en toto."On July 5, 1991, the aforesaid Decision was received by the respondent Union Officers and respondent Company. On July 13, 1991, they filed their Motion for Reconsideration stating, inter alia that the questioned ten percent (10%) special assessment is valid pursuant to the ruling in Bank of the Philippine Islands Employee Union - ALU vs. NLRC.[8]
"WHEREFORE, the Decision dated 01 July 1991 is hereby SET ASIDE. In lieu thereof, a new one is hereby entered DISMISSING the Complaint/Petition for lack of merit."Hence, the present petition seeking to annul and set aside the above-cited Order of public respondent Undersecretary B.E. Laguesma, for being allegedly tainted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction.
"The Secretary shall have fifteen (15) calendar days within which to decide the appeal from receipt of the records of the case. The decision of the Secretary shall be final and inappealable." [Underscoring supplied]. (Comment, p. 101)The aforecited provision cannot be construed to mean that the Decision of the public respondent cannot be reconsidered since the same is reviewable by writ of certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court. As a rule, the law requires a motion for reconsideration to enable the public respondent to correct his mistakes, if any. In Pearl S. Buck Foundation, Inc., vs. NLRC,[11] this Court held:
"Hence, the only way by which a labor case may reach the Supreme Court is through a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court alleging lack or excess of jurisdiction or grave abuse of discretion. Such petition may be filed within a reasonable time from receipt of the resolution denying the motion for reconsideration of the NLRC decision." [Underscoring; supplied].Clearly, before a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court may be availed of, the filing of a motion for reconsideration is a condition sine qua non to afford an opportunity for the correction of the error or mistake complained of.
"xxx The active participation of the party against whom the action was brought, coupled with his failure to object to the jurisdiction of the court or quasi-judicial body where the action is pending, is tantamount to an invocation of that jurisdiction and a willingness to abide by the resolution of the case and will bar said party from later on impugning the court or body's jurisdiction."What is more, it was only when the public respondents issued the Order adverse to them that the petitioners raised the question for the first time before this Court. Obviously, it is a patent afterthought which must be abhorred.
"Rights and conditions of membership in a labor organization. - The following are the rights and conditions of membership in a labor organization:Article 241 of the Labor Code, as amended, must be read in relation to Article 222, paragraph (b) of the same law, which states:
x x x
(g) No officer, agent, member of a labor organization shall collect any fees, dues, or other contributions in its behalf or make any disbursement of its money or funds unless he is duly authorized pursuant to its constitution and by-laws.
x x x
(n) No special assessment or other extraordinary fees may be levied upon the members of a labor organization unless authorized by a written resolution of a majority of all the members of a general membership meeting duly called for the purpose. The secretary of the organization shall record the minutes of the meeting including the list of all members present, the votes cast, the purpose of the special assessment or fees and the recipient of such assessment or fees. The record shall be attested to by the president.
(o) Other than for mandatory activities under the Code, no special assessments, attorney's fees, negotiation fees or any other extraordinary fees may be checked off from any amount due to an employee with an individual written authorization duly signed by the employee. The authorization should specifically state the amount, purpose and beneficiary of the deductions. [Underscoring; supplied]
"No attorney's fees, negotiation fees or similar charges of any kind arising from collective bargaining negotiations or conclusion of the collective agreement shall be imposed on any individual member of the contracting union: Provided, however, that attorney's fees may be charged against union funds in an amount to be agreed upon by the parties. Any contract, agreement or arrangement of any sort to the contrary shall be null and void." [Underscoring; supplied]And this court elucidated the object and import of the said provision of law in Bank of Philippine Islands Employees Union - Association Labor Union (BPIEU-ALU) vs. National Labor Relations Commission:[17]
"The Court reads the afore-cited provision (Article 222 [b] of the Labor Code) as prohibiting the payment of attorney's fees only when it is effected through forced contributions from the workers from their own funds as distinguished from the union funds. xxx"Noticeably, Article 241 speaks of three (3) requisites that must be complied with in order that the special assessment for Union's incidental expenses, attorney's fees and representation expenses, as stipulated in Article XII of the CBA, be valid and upheld namely: 1) authorization by a written resolution of the majority of all the members at the general membership meeting duly called for the purpose; (2) secretary's record of the minutes of the meeting; and (3) individual written authorization for check-off duly signed by the employee concerned.
"Towards that end, I hereby authorize the Management and/or Cashier of ABS-CBN BROADCASTING CORPORATION to deduct from my salary the sum of P30.00 per month as my regular union dues and said Management and/or Cashier are further authorize (sic) to deduct a sum equivalent to 10% of all and whatever benefits that will become due to me under the COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT (CBA) that may be agreed upon by the UNION and MANAGEMENT and to apply the said sum to the advance that Management will make to our Union for incidental expenses such as attorney's fees, representations and other miscellaneous expenses pursuant to Article XII of the proposed CBA."[20]Records do not indicate that the aforesaid check-off authorizations were executed by the eighty-five (85) Union members under the influence of force or compulsion. There is then, the presumption that such check-off authorizations were executed voluntarily by the signatories thereto. Petitioner's contention that the amount to be deducted is uncertain[21] is not persuasive because the check-off authorization clearly stated that the sum to be deducted is equivalent to ten percent (10%) of all and whatever benefits may accrue under the CBA. In other words, although the amount is not fixed, it is determinable.
"The Court reads the aforecited provision as prohibiting the payment of attorney's fees only when it is effected through forced contributions from the workers from their own funds a distinguished from the union funds. The purpose of the provision is to prevent imposition on the workers of the duty to individually contribute their respective shares in the fee to be paid the attorney for his services on behalf of the union in its negotiations with the management. xxx" [Underscoring supplied]However, the public respondent overlooked the fact that in the said case, the deduction of the stipulated five percent (5%) of the total economic benefits under the new collective bargaining agreement was applied only to workers who gave their individual signed authorizations. The Court explained:
"xxx And significantly, the authorized deduction affected only the workers who adopted and signed the resolution and who were the only ones from whose benefits the deductions were made by BPI. No similar deductions were taken from the other workers who did not sign the resolution and so were not bound by it." [Underscoring; supplied]While the court also finds merit in the finding by the public respondents that Palacol vs. Ferrer-Calleja[23] is inapropos in the case under scrutiny, it does not subscribe to public respondent's reasoning - that Palacol should not be retroactively applied to the present case in the interest of justice, equity and fairplay.[24] The inapplicability of Palacol lies in the fact that it has a different factual milieu from the present case. In Palacol, the check-off authorization was declared invalid because majority of the Union members had withdrawn their individual authorizations, to wit:
"Paragraph (o) on the other hand requires an individual written authorization duly signed by every employee in order that special assessment maybe validly check-off. Even assuming that the special assessment was validly levied pursuant to paragraph (n), and granting that individual written authorizations were obtained by the Union, nevertheless there can be no valid check-off considering that the majority of the Union members had already withdrawn their individual authorizations. A withdrawal of individual authorization is equivalent to no authorization at all." xxx [Underscoring; supplied]In this case, the majority of the Union members gave their individual written check-off authorizations for the ten percent (10%) special assessment. And they have never withdraw their individual written authorizations for check-off.