MANILA HOTEL EMPLOYEES ASSOC. V. MANILA HOTEL CORP. (LABOR)

Defiance of the assumption order or a return-to-work order by a striking employee, whether a union officer or a member, is an illegal act and therefore, a valid ground for loss of employment status.

The assumption of jurisdiction by the SOLE over labor disputes causing or likely to cause a strike or a lockout in an industry indispensable to the national interest is in the nature of a police power measure.

A return-to-work order is immediately executory notwithstanding the filing of an MR or any petition questioning its validity. Returning to work in this situation is not a matter of option or voluntariness but of obligation, regardless of their motives.

As a general rule, the sympathy of the Court is on the side of the laboring classes, not only because the Constitution imposes sympathy but because of the one-sided relation between labor and capital. The Court must take care however, that in the contest between labor and capital, the results achieved are fair and in conformity with the rules.