THE SUPREME Court (SC) has turned down a petition filed by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) in a labor case filed by five of its workers who claimed to have been illegally dismissed in 2014.
In its resolution published online on Aug. 9, the high court’s first division denied the petition filed by the Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. (Miescor), Meralco’s engineering and construction arm.
The ruling ordered that the workers -- heavy equipment mechanics Angelito de Leon, Reyfraim G. Palma, Stephen G. Palma, Jesus G. Garcia, and vehicle painter Felimen A. Milan -- "be reinstated to their former or similar positions, without loss of seniority rights and other privileges”.
In its petition filed before the high court, Miescor questioned the Dec. 17, 2018 decision of the Court of Appeals which reversed the Dec. 8, 2015 decision of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and instead reinstated the original Dec. 29, 2014 decision of the labor arbiter in the case which ruled that the workers are regular employees of the subsidiary who were dismissed without just cause.
The workers who were hired at various times from 2008 to 2013 claimed that under the employment agreements they were made to sign, they were hired only for a specific project in Valenzuela City and that when the project is not finished on schedule, the company made them sign subsequent sets of project employment contracts.
However, they claimed that they were never assigned to the Valenzuela project and were instead assigned to Miescor’s Motor Pool Department Preventive Division in Marikina City. (Benjamin Pultaz)
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