PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 21, October 14, 1972
CREATING A NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
justice for all the people, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me under the Constitution
as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General
Order Nos. 1 and 5, dated September 22, 1972, do hereby order and
decree:
SECTION 1. A National Labor Relations Commission is
hereby established in the Department of Labor composed of three members
with the Undersecretary of Labor or his duly authorized representative
as Chairman and the Director of Labor Relations and the Director of
Labor Standards or their duly authorized representatives as members. If
the Undersecretary of Labor cannot attend, his duly authorized
representative shall sit as a member, and the Director of Labor
Standards or, in his absence, the Director of Labor Relations shall act
as Chairman.
SEC. 2. The Commission shall have original and
exclusive jurisdiction over the following:
1) All matters involving employee-employer relations including all
disputes and grievances which may otherwise lead to strikes and lockouts
under Republic Act No. 875;2) All strikes overtaken by Proclamation No. 1081; and
3) All pending cases in the Bureau of Labor Relations.
SEC. 3. The parties to any dispute, grievance or
issue shall first exhaust all steps in the grievance procedure provided
for in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or such other
means of dispute settlement mutually agreed upon by them before either
or both parties may raise an issue, dispute or grievance to the
Commission. The complaining party will be required to show proofs of
failure to settle the issue, dispute or grievance under the procedure
agreed upon by the parties.
SEC. 4. Before assuming jurisdiction over any issue,
dispute or grievance, the Commission or its duly authorized
representative shall give the parties a chance to submit their problem
for voluntary arbitration. However, if the parties fail to agree on the
arbitrator, the Commission may designate an arbitrator to hear and
decide such grievance, dispute or issue or itself act as the arbitrator.
SEC. 5. The decision of the Commission shall be
immediately executory unless appealed to the Secretary of Labor who
shall act on all cases within five (5) days from filing. The latter’s
decision is appealable to the President.
Outside the Greater Manila Area, the Commission is empowered to
designate a representative who, together with a representative of the
union and a representative of management to be nominated by the
immediate parties to the particular issue, dispute or grievance shall
mediate, conciliate and, if necessary, conduct a fact-finding
investigation and submit its findings to the Commission within five (5)
days from commencement of the investigation for decision.
SEC. 6. Upon promulgation of this Decree, all
collective bargaining agreements shall contain a provision designating a
voluntary arbitrator, who may be an individual or a committee, to
decide all disputes and grievances arising out of the implementation of
the collective bargaining agreements. All existing collective bargaining
agreements without such provision shall be duly amended to include such
provision. Such amendment shall be reported immediately to the
Commission. All lockouts shall be deemed illegal.
SEC. 7. The Commission or any member thereof shall
have the power to administer oath, issue subpoena and subpoena duces
tecum, and to hold any person in contempt for refusal to comply.
SEC. 8. On recommendation of the Commission, the
Secretary of Labor shall designate mediators, fact-finders,
representation officers and such other assistants as the Commission may
deem necessary from among the existing officials and personnel of the
Department of Labor.
SEC. 9. The Commission shall promulgate such rules
of procedure and other regulations as would enable it to resolve or
terminate all cases within thirty (30) days from filing, as well as
rules and regulations governing collective bargaining.
SEC. 10. The President of the Philippines, on
recommendation of the Commission and the Secretary of Labor, may order
the arrest and detention of any person held in contempt by the
Commission for non-compliance and defiance of any subpoena, order or
decision duly issued by the Commission in accordance with this Decree
and its implementing rules and regulations and for any violations of the
provisions of this Decree.
SEC. 11. No employer may shut down his establishment
or dismiss or terminate the services of regular employees with at least
one year of service without the written clearance of the Secretary of
Labor.
SEC. 12. All provisions of existing laws, orders,
and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with this Decree are hereby
repealed.
Done in the City of Manila, this 14th day of October, in the year of
Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President
Republic of the Philippines
By the President: (Sgd.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR Executive Secretary