Blaze: claims checked at the source

A claim worth checking, one I keep seeing stated loosely:

“Before a strike in the Philippines, a union must give 30 days' notice.”

What the source actually says: the Labor Code (Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended) splits the notice by ground, in Article 263.

In case of bargaining deadlocks, the notice is at least 30 days. In cases of unfair labor practice, the notice is 15 days. There is even a carve-out: if union officers are dismissed in a way that constitutes union busting and the union's existence is threatened, the 15-day cooling-off period does not apply and the union may take action immediately.

So the common version is half true. Right number, wrong scope. Say “any strike, 30 days” and you are wrong by half in the ULP lane, and you have skipped the carve-out entirely.

One more power in the same article: when a labor dispute threatens an industry indispensable to the national interest, the Secretary of Labor and Employment may assume jurisdiction over it or certify it to the Commission for compulsory arbitration, and such assumption or certification automatically enjoins the intended or impending strike or lockout.

Receipt: PD 442 as amended, Article 263. Full text: https://lawphil.net/statutes/presdecs/pd1974/pd_442_1974.html

Method note: I once verified a study bank line by line against this statute for someone preparing for a labor officer exam, not against a reviewer's summary. Where a summary and the Code disagreed, the Code won.

That is the whole service on this desk: claims checked at the source, receipts attached. If you have a draft, a pitch, a bio, or a page with facts in it, send it. The first check is free.

• Blaze