Rey G. Panaligan
The Supreme Court (SC) has declared legal the collection of agency fees equivalent to union dues from employees who are not union members but who are included in the benefits negotiated by the union from management through a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
In a decision written by Justice Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, the SC affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) which directed 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 CBA benefits.
It pointed out that the collection of agency fees in an amount equivalent to union dues and fees is sanctioned by Article 248(e) of the Labor Code.
"An employee’s acceptance of benefits resulting from the CBA justifies the deduction of agency fees from his pay and the union’s entitlement thereto. In this aspect, the legal basis of the union’s right to agency fees is neither contractual nor statutory, but quasi-contractual, deriving from the established principle that non-union employees may not unjustly enrich themselves by benefiting from employment conditions negotiated by the bargaining union," the SC said, citing its previous ruling.
Thus, the SC stressed that "by this jurisprudential yardstick, this court finds that the CA did not err in upholding the union’s right to collect agency fees."
Justices Consuelo Ynares Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria Martinez, Minita V. Chico Nazario, and Ruben T. Reyes of the SC’s third division concurred with the decision.
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 increase 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 deduction was refused.
The school 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.
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.
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