Philippine Labor Law Topic Hub
Collective Labor Relations covers the law that applies to workers acting together rather than individually: forming a union, choosing a bargaining agent, negotiating and enforcing a collective bargaining agreement, and what happens when that relationship breaks down.
What This Topic Covers
Most of Philippine labor law deals with one worker and one employer — a dismissal, a wage claim, a resignation. Collective labor relations deals with something different: employees acting as a group, and the machinery the Labor Code provides for that.
The right sits in the Constitution and in Book V of the Labor Code. What follows is the vocabulary you need to read anything written about it.
The Sequence: From Organising to an Agreement
These six terms describe one process, in order. Each links to its full glossary entry.
Labor Union
An organisation of employees formed for collective bargaining and mutual aid. Everything else on this page depends on one existing and being legitimate. For the requirements and steps, see how to form and register a labor union.
Bargaining Unit
The group of employees appropriate for bargaining together, defined by a shared community or mutuality of interests. It sets who is covered before anyone votes.
Certification Election
The DOLE-supervised secret ballot that determines the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the unit. The Med-Arbiter handles the proceeding.
Collective Bargaining Agreement
The negotiated contract between the employer and the certified bargaining representative covering wages, hours and other terms for the unit.
Union Security Clause
A CBA provision conditioning continued employment on union membership. It is the clause most likely to collide with an individual worker’s security of tenure.
Grievance Machinery
The agreed in-house process for resolving disputes about how the CBA or company personnel policies are interpreted and applied.
When the Relationship Breaks Down
Voluntary Arbitration
Where unresolved grievances go. A distinct route from the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC, and worth not confusing with them.
Unfair Labor Practice
Acts by an employer or a union that violate the right to self-organisation. Note the deadline: unfair labor practice under Book V carries a one-year prescriptive period, not the three years that applies to money claims — see prescription and laches.
Strike
A concerted work stoppage by employees arising from a labor dispute. Legality turns on grounds, notice and procedure, not on the grievance being genuine.
Lockout
The employer’s counterpart to a strike — a temporary refusal to furnish work arising from a labor dispute.
Where This Sits Against the Rest of the Glossary
Terms here concern the group. Where a dispute is individual — one worker’s dismissal, one worker’s unpaid wages — the relevant vocabulary sits under Termination and Dismissal, Wages and Pay or DOLE, SEnA and NLRC Procedures.
Two terms bridge the two worlds. Quorum matters for certification elections and CBA ratification, and ultra vires for acts by union officers beyond their authority.
Related LaborCode.ph Guides
- Collective bargaining agreements in the Philippines
- Unfair labor practices by employers and unions
- Union rights for members: organizing, CBAs and strike procedure
- Where to file: NLRC or DOLE
- Philippine labor law doctrines
- All labor relations and union guides
Read the Law: Labor Code Book Five
- Book Five overview (Articles 218 to 292)
- The NLRC and the Bureau of Labor Relations (Articles 220 to 239)
- Labor organizations and coverage (Articles 240 to 257)
- Unfair labor practices, collective bargaining and voluntary arbitration (Articles 258 to 277)
- Strikes, lockouts and special provisions (Articles 278 to 292)
About This Page
This is a topic hub, not a glossary entry. It groups the ten collective-relations terms in the LaborCode.ph glossary and explains how they connect. Each term’s legal basis, sources and citations are set out on its own entry.
Last materially reviewed: 9 September 2026
Disclaimer
This page is for general educational and legal-information purposes and is not legal advice. Labor disputes depend on specific facts and current law. LaborCode.ph is independent and is not a government website, tribunal or law firm.