8/8/2019 SSS Employees v CA

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EC 8 RIGHT TO FORM ASSOCIATIONS

SSS EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION VS CA

FACTS: SSSEA went on strike after the SSS failed to act on

the union's demands. SSS filed with the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City a complaint

against petitioners for staging an illegal strike and baricaded the entrances to the SSSBuilding, preventing non-striking employees from reporting for work and SSS members

from transacting business with the SSS.

ISSUE:WON employees of the Social Security System

(SSS) have the right to strike.

HELD:Yes. While there is no question that the Constitution

recognizes the right of government employees to organize, it is silent as to whether such

recognition also includes the right to strike. The commissioners intended to limit the right

to the formation of unions or associations only, without including the right to strike.

It will be recalled that the Industrial Peace Act (R.A. No. 875), which was repealed by the

Labor Code , expressly banned strikes by employees in the Government, including

instrumentalities exercising governmental functions, but excluding entities entrusted with

proprietary functions

No similar provision is found in the Labor Code. To implement the constitutional

guarantee of the right of government employees to organize, the President issued E.O.

No. 180 which provides guidelines for the exercise of the right to organize of government

employees. In the absence of any legislation allowing government employees to strike,

recognizing their right to do so, or regulating the exercise of

the right, they are prohibited from striking.

The SSS is one such government-controlled corporation with an original charter, its

employees are part of the civil service and are covered by the Civil Service Commission's

memorandum prohibiting strikes. This being the case, the strike staged by the employees

of the SSS was illegal.