The Hongkong &Shanghai Banking Corporation Employees Union vs.

National Labor Relations

Commission, 778 SCRA 17, January 11, 2016

LEGAL PRINCIPLES:

 The requirements for a valid strike under Article 263 of the Labor Code are MANDATORY. Hence,
a strike staged without compliance with such requirements is illegal, and may cause the termination
of the employment of the participating union officers and members.
 The commission of unlawful acts during a strike further renders it illegal. Hence, a strike even if
justifiable because of its ends, could be rendered illegal because of the means employed in carrying
out the same.
 Good faith is NOT a defense in an illegal strike. It is NOT enough the the participants believed in
good faith that they have a sufficient ground to conduct a strike, they must also show that they
complied with the requirements and limitations under the law for conducting a valid strike.
 The mere finding of the illegality of the strike does not justify the wholesale termination of the
strikers from their employment.
 The liability for the illegal strike is individual, not collective.
 In determining liability in an illegal strike in accordance with Article 264 of the Labor Code, there
must be a distinction between the officers and the members of the union who participate in an
illegal strike.

The officers may be deemed terminated from their employment upon a finding of their
knowing participation in the illegal strike.

However, members of the union shall suffer the same fate only if they are shown to have
knowingly participated in the commission of illegal acts during the strike.

 In illegal strikes, procedural due process (twin notice rule) must still be complied with before
termination.
 The liability of the employer in case of non observance of due process falls into two categories.
Dismissal without observaqnce of substantive (no just or authorized cause) AND
procedural due process
Dismissal without observance of procedural due process