Non-members to pay union fees too

THE Supreme Court has declared as legal the collection of union dues from non-union members who are included in the benefits negotiated by the union from management through a collective bargaining agreement.

The high tribunal’s ruling came as it ordered the management of the Del Pilar Academy in Imus, Cavite to deduct the agency fees assessed by the union from non-members who are recipients of the benefits.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, the Third Division upheld the decision of the Court of Appeals, saying the collection of agency fees in an amount equivalent to union dues and fees is sanctioned by Article 248 of the Labor Code.

Justices Consuelo Ynares Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria Martinez, Minita Chico Nazario, and Ruben Reyes concurred with the decision.

“An employee’s acceptance of benefits resulting from the CBA justifies the deduction of agency fees from his pay and the union’s entitlement [to it],” the court said.

The court added that the legal basis for approving the union’s right to collect the fees was derived “from the established principle that non-union employees may not unjustly enrich themselves by benefiting from employment conditions negotiated by the bargaining union.”

“By this jurisprudential yardstick, this court finds that the CA did not err in upholding the union’s right to collect agency fees,” the ruling said.

On Sept. 15, 1994, the teaching and non-teaching personnel through the Del Pilar Academy Employees Union entered into a CBA with the school’s management for the grant of salary increases and other benefits.

The union then assessed the fees from non-union employees and asked the school management to deduct these from their wages, but the request was rejected.

The school administration claimed that the non-union employees were not agreeable to the fees and that there was no written authorization from the non-union members to deduct the fees.

Because of this, the union charged the school, represented by Eduardo Espejo and Eliseo Ocampo Jr., with unfair labor practice.

The labor arbiter ruled in favor of the union and declared that non-union members are duty bound to pay agency fees which may be lawfully deducted without individual check-off authorization.

On appeal, the National Labor Relations Commission affirmed the arbiter’s findings on the fees but said the school was not guilty of unfair labor practices.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the commission’s ruling, forcing the school to elevate the issue to the Supreme Court.–Rey E. Requejo, Manila Standard