arising from the interpretation or enforcement of company personnel policies referred
to in the immediately preceding article. Accordingly, violations of a Collective
Bargaining Agreement, except those which are gross in character, shall no longer be
treated as unfair labor practice and shall be resolved as grievances under the
Collective Bargaining Agreement. For purposes of this article, gross violations of
Collective Bargaining Agreement shall mean flagrant and/or malicious refusal to
comply with the economic provisions of such agreement.
The Commission, its Regional Offices and the Regional Directors of the Department
of Labor and Employment shall not entertain disputes, grievances or matters under the
exclusive and original jurisdiction of the Voluntary Arbitrator or panel of Voluntary
Arbitrators and shall immediately dispose and refer the same to the Grievance
Machinery or Voluntary Arbitration provided in the Collective Bargaining
Agreement.
Art. 262. Jurisdiction Over Other Labor Disputes. - The Voluntary Arbitrator or panel
of Voluntary Arbitrators, upon agreement of the parties, shall also hear and decide all
other labor disputes including unfair labor practices and bargaining deadlocks
(emphasis supplied).
Private respondents attempt to justify the conferment of jurisdiction over the case on
the Voluntary Arbitrator on the ground that the issue involves the proper interpretation
and implementation of the Grievance Procedure found in the CBA. They point out that
when petitioner sought the assistance of his Union to avail of the grievance machinery,
he in effect submitted himself to the procedure set forth in the CBA regarding
submission of unresolved grievances to a Voluntary Arbitrator.
The argument is untenable. The case is primarily a termination dispute. It is clear
from the claim/assistance request form submitted by petitioner to AMOSUP that he was
challenging the legality of his dismissal for lack of cause and lack of due process. The
issue of whether there was proper interpretation and implementation of the CBA
provisions comes into play only because the grievance procedure provided for in the
CBA was not observed after he sought his Unions assistance in contesting his
termination. Thus, the question to be resolved necessarily springs from the primary
issue of whether there was a valid termination; without this, then there would be no
reason to invoke the need to interpret and implement the CBA provisions properly.
In San Miguel Corp. v. National Labor Relations Commission[21] this Court held that
the phrase "all other labor disputes" may include termination disputes provided that the
agreement between the Union and the Company states "in unequivocal language that
[the parties] conform to the submission of termination disputes and unfair labor
practices to voluntary arbitration."[22] Ergo, it is not sufficient to merely say that parties to
the CBA agree on the principle that "all disputes" should first be submitted to a
Voluntary Arbitrator. There is a need for an express stipulation in the CBA that illegal
termination disputes should be resolved by a Voluntary Arbitrator or Panel of Voluntary