FACTS:

Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) filed a petition for certiorari seeking the termination of certain members and officers of the PAL Employees' Association (PALEA) who staged a strike in violation of the Secretary of Labor's return to work order. The Acting Labor Secretary Jose S. Brillantes issued an order suspending and directing PAL to reinstate eighteen PALEA officers and members after serving their suspensions. PAL filed a Motion for Reconsideration arguing that the suspension violated Article 264 of the Labor Code. PAL cited previous Supreme Court decisions that declared strikes undertaken despite an assumption and/or certification as illegal. PAL argued that the officers and members of PALEA participating in the strike should be deemed to have lost their employment status. PAL further argued that the loss of employment status is mandatory under the provision. The Court dismissed the petition for certiorari and affirmed the Acting Secretary's order. PAL filed a Motion for Reconsideration, but it was denied. As a result, PAL was ordered to reinstate the suspended union members and pay them full backwages and other benefits.

ISSUES:

1. Whether the suspension of the eighteen PALEA officers and members for staging a strike in violation of the Secretary of Labor's return to work order is a violation of Article 264 of the Labor Code.

RULING:

1. The Supreme Court upheld the March 9, 1995 order of the Acting Labor Secretary that meted the penalty of suspension upon the eighteen PALEA officers and members for their participation in the strike. The Court affirmed that a strike undertaken despite the issuance of an assumption and/or certification by the Secretary of Labor is a prohibited activity and thus illegal. As a result, the striking employees are deemed to have lost their employment status for knowingly participating in an illegal act. The Court also invoked its judicial prerogative to resolve disputes in a way that preserves the interests of all parties and ultimately leads to the preservation of industrial peace and labor-management stability. Therefore, the suspension of the officers and members was affirmed and PAL was ordered to reinstate them to their respective posts after they have served their suspension.

PRINCIPLES:

• A strike that is undertaken despite the issuance of an assumption and/or certification by the Secretary of Labor is a prohibited activity and thus illegal.

• The loss of employment status results from the striking employees' own act of defying a return-to-work order, which is illegal and in violation of the law and in defiance of authority.

• The Court has the prerogative to resolve disputes in a way that preserves the interests of all parties and the greater order of society.

• Industrial peace and labor-management stability should be preserved in the resolution of labor disputes.

• Employees who have been suspended for participating in an illegal strike are entitled to reinstatement with full backwages and other benefits due, from the time their suspensions have been served until their actual reinstatement.