Labor justice still delayed

(Conclusion)

Whenever workers think that they are being victimized by the abuses of some employers, or even bytheir own unions, they feel assured that they always have recourse in government. They look upon the labor adjudication system in government as the best venue where to seek redress for their grievances. They rely on the Labor Code’s promise for a speedy, expeditious and inexpensive labor justice and on the Constitutional mandate for full protection to labor, both local and overseas, both organized and those without unions.

But when labor adjudication takes 10 to 20 years to complete, the workers would most probably lose faith in government’s ability to deliver on its promise. In the first two parts of this article, we have discussed actual cases of delay based on decisions by the highest court of the land. 

Delay is the enemy of the people and the government. The Filipinos are generally inclined to complain on many things. Delay in labor cases should be a valid issue to complain about for the evidence of inefficiency in our system is indubitable.

In a case (GR 178735) involving one the country’s oldest and perhaps one of the three biggest banks, it took 16 years to resolve a simple case of employee dismissal, 2 years with the arbitrator, one year before the Court of Appeals and 13 in the Supreme Court. A reconsideration was filed on the court’s decision in 2005 but the court took up to September 2011 to resolve the Motion For Reconsideration. Albeit the worker won, it was a clear case of justice delayed. Another case (GR 167518), involving the same bank was resolved only after 13 years, from the arbiter to the High Court. In another case(GR 149433 ) involving a global soft drinks firm, it also took 16 years to decide a simple dismissal case. And worse, the worker lost that one. Why did it require 16 years to decide that there was a just cause to dismiss him?

Still in another case (GR 171673 ), involving a radio station in Iligan, it likewise took 16 years from the time of filing in 1995 and the decision by the High Court in 2011. The arbiter took 3 years, the NLRC one year, the Court of appeals 6 years and the Supreme Court 5 years to resolve this retrenchment case. In1997, a 67-year-old worker in Iloilo, filed a case (GR 161787) for retirement benefits, after working for 48 years for a family corporation. After 14 years, the case was decided in his favor in July 2011. By the time, the court resolved the appeal, he was already 81 years old. I hope he could stay alive until the execution of the favorable judgment.

It took 14 years to resolve another case (GR 169260) involving an aircon manufacturing firm. The case was decided in favor of the worker, but 13 years was too long to tell her that she was wrongfully dismissed. It took another 13 years for the 1998 strike staged against PNOC-EDC in its Leyte Geothermal Plant to be declared illegal. It took 12 years for the entire system to resolve an illegal dismissal case (GR 176287 ) involving a hospital nurse who was kicked out after an old hospital patient under her care fell from her bed. There are many other cases that took more than a decade to resolve.

A case (GR 179593 ) involving a Manila-based university owned by a top business tycoon was filed in 1999. It was decided in September 2011, after more than 12 years. The decision was against the workers and in favor of the university.

All these and many more do indicate that there is something very wrong in our system of dispensing labor justice in this country. Employers and lawyers may not at all be adversely affected by undue delay in the administration of labor justice. They can well afford to pay and face the consequences. But labor suffers so much given the very high cost of litigation and attorney’s fees.

Delay is the enemy of the people. Government suffers in terms of its credibility on how well it can deliver on its promise to deliver justice speedily, expeditiously and inexpensively. Delay in the administration of justice is the first seed of rebellion and subversion. We should all stand up to stamp out delay in any form, at all levels and at all cost.