Court junks Coca-Cola’s motion for a TRO against labor union

The Regional Trial Court has junked the motion of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Incorporated for a 20-day temporary restraining order against the protests action of Cosmos Visayas Bottlers, Inc.- Cebu Plant Employees Union.

Judge Simeon Dumdum, in a two-page order, said it is clear that the court has no jurisdiction over the case of a labor dispute between Coca-Cola and the Cosmos workers’ group.

The presence of a labor dispute means that the jurisdiction over the issuance of TROs and injunctions belongs to the National Labor Relations Commission, said the judge.

Dumdum cited Article 254 of the Labor Code, which states: ‘No temporary or permanent injunction or restraining order in any case involving or growing out of labor disputes shall be issued by any court or other entity.”

This would also mean that the 72-hour TRO issued by RTC Judge Ramon Codilla last September 24 should be extinguished and that the court (of Dumdum) “refuses to prolong its life for even a moment,” said Dumdum.

He also said that, while Coca-Cola argued that there has been no employer-employee relationship between the company and the Cosmos labor union, there may exists a labor dispute even though the two sides do not have the close relation of employer and employee.

A labor dispute includes any controversy on terms or conditions of employment or the association or representation of persons in “negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or arranging these terms of employment regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee,” Dumdum said citing the labor laws.

The court granted the labor union’s motion to dismiss the injunction case filed by Coca-Cola, contending that the court has no jurisdiction over the case, which arose out of a labor dispute.

The union cited the complaint it filed at the Regional Adjudication Board of the NLRC against the Cosmos firm, which it accused of interfering, restraining or coercing employees from exercising their right to self-organization, and protection from union busting and illegal termination.

The union then argued that there existed an employer-employee relationship between Coca-Cola and the labor union of Cosmos.

When San Miguel Corporation and Coca-Cola separated last March, the latter acquired Cosmos as its subsidiary corporation, and since then, the operations of Cosmos came under the control of Coca-Cola, said the union members who added that they were even required to wear Coca-Cola uniform.

The union further alleged that Coca-Cola, under the guise of consolidating the operation of Cosmos with its operation, closed its Cosmos plant with the assurance that there would be no interruption in the employment of the Cosmos workers.

The Cosmos employees were however told to stop reporting to work starting last September 5 to give them time to look for another jobs, as they were ordered dismissed from service effective October 15. 

This triggered the union’s protests as it went to the NLRC complaining of illegal dismissal with the plea to order the company for their reinstatement.

Coca-Cola tried to convince the union members to stop holding protest actions outside its plant in Mandaue City and its sales office in Cebu City. It also went to the RTC asking for an injunction and a TRO contending that the protests would otherwise cause “grave and irreparable damage” to the firm.

Cosmos, manufacturer of Jaz and Sparkle colas, was once owned by former Iloilo congressman Augusto Cejoco but was bought by the Concepcions in the 1990s. San Miguel Corporation acquired it in 2001 but it is now a subsidiary of Coca-Cola. — Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE