Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 308, November 1997

Case No 1826 (Philippines) - Complaint date: 27-MAR-95 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 65. During its last examination of this case in November 1996 (see 305th Report, paras. 54-56), the Committee had urged the Government to establish an independent investigation into the conduct of the April 1996 certification election at Cebu Mitsumi Inc. in Danao City, and to take the necessary measures to ensure that a new certification election was held if the complainant's allegations of interference by the management of Cebu Mitsumi in the election proceedings of April 1996 proved to be true.
2. 66. In a communication dated 11 September 1997, the Government states that the Office of the Secretary of Labor and Employment carried out a thorough study of the facts of this case. Further to this review, the Secretary of Labor and Employment issued a resolution on 31 July 1997 declaring the certification elections conducted in Cebu Mitsumi on 24-25 April 1996 as invalid and ordering the conduct of another certification election immediately to determine the true will of the employees. The decision, which is appended to the communication, relies on section 8(f), Rule VI, Book V of the Rules and Regulations of the Philippine Labor Code, which provides that a labour organization can only be certified as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent if it has obtained a majority of the valid votes cast by the eligible voters. Further, for a certification election to be considered valid, at least a majority of all eligible voters must have cast their votes. It was found that out of 9,850 eligible voters, only 1,032 cast ballots, thus not constituting a majority of the registered voters. The Government adds that, to date, the resolution has not been implemented as the management of Cebu Mitsumi Inc. has filed a motion for consideration with the concerned regional office. The motion has not yet been transmitted to the Office of the Secretary.
3. 67. While observing that the Government did not establish an independent investigation into the conduct of the April 1996 certification election at Cebu Mitsumi, the Committee notes with interest that the Government's own investigation into the matter resulted in the decision to declare that certification election invalid and to order the conduct of another certification election as soon as possible. The Committee therefore urges the Government to ensure that a new certification election is held immediately at Cebu Mitsumi Inc., especially in view of the fact that the CMEU filed a petition for a certification election nearly four years ago, in February 1994, which was, moreover, signed by almost all rank-and-file workers of Cebu Mitsumi (see 302nd Report, paras. 405 and 408). The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any progress made in this regard.