DEL PILAR ACADEMY V. DEL PILAR ACADEMY UNION (LABOR)

Issue: Whether or not the Union is entitled to collect agency fees from non-union members, and if so whether an individual written authorization is necessary for a valid check off.

The collection of AGENCY FEES in an amount equivalent to union dues and fees, from employees who are not union members, is recognized by Article 248(e) of the Labor Code. When so stipulated in a collective bargaining agreement or authorized in writing by the employees concerned, the Labor code and its Implementing Rules recognize it to be the duty of the employer to deduct the sum equivalent to the amount of union dues, as agency fees, from the employee's wages for direct remittance to the union. The system is referred to as CHECK OFF. No requirement of written authorization from the non-union employees is necessary if the non-union employees accept the benefits resulting from the CBA.

Del Pilar admitted failure to deduct the agency fees from the salaries of non-union employees, but justifies the non-deduction by the absence of individual written authorization. It posits that Article 248(e) is inapplicable considering that its employees derived no benefits from the CBA. The annual salary of its employee is a benefit mandated by law, and not derived from the CBA - this argument cannot be sustained.

Contrary to what Del Pilar wants to portray, the grant of annual salary increase is not the only provision in the CBA that benefited the non-union employees. The union negotiated teaching hour limitations, additional compensation for overload units, payment of longevity pay, etc. These provisions in the CBA surely benefited the non-union employees, justifying the collection of and the union's entitlement to agency fees.

Accordingly, no requirement of written authorization for the non-union employees is needed to effect a valid check off. Article 248(e) makes it explicit that Article 241(o), requiring written authorization is inapplicable to non-union employees, especially in this case where the non-union employees receive several benefits under the CBA.