Labor Code Book Five — Labor Relations (Articles 218 to 292)

Book Five is the collective half of the Labor Code. Books One to Four deal with an individual worker and an employer. Book Five deals with workers acting together — unions, bargaining, strikes — and with the machinery that decides labor disputes: the NLRC, the Bureau of Labor Relations, and voluntary arbitration. It runs from Article 218 to Article 292 across nine Titles, and it is the largest Book in the Code.

Part of the Labor Code of the Philippines, all seven Books.

Direct Answer

Book Five does four things. It creates the institutions — the National Labor Relations Commission and its Labor Arbiters (Articles 220–231) and the Bureau of Labor Relations (232–239). It governs unions — how a labor organization is registered and when its registration may be cancelled, what rights its members have, and who may join one (240–257). It protects and regulates bargaining — defining unfair labor practices (258–260), setting the procedure and duty to bargain collectively, and providing grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration (261–277). And it regulates concerted action — the requirements for a lawful strike or lockout, prohibited activities, and the Secretary of Labor’s power to assume jurisdiction (278–287), followed by special provisions on government employees and union dues (288–292).

⚠ One statute rewrote most of this Book. Republic Act No. 6715 (1989) — the Herrera–Veloso Law — amended more than twenty articles of Book Five, restructured the NLRC, and rewrote the rules on appeals, certification elections, voluntary arbitration and strikes. Later amendments continued: R.A. No. 9347 (2006) and R.A. No. 10741 (2016) on the NLRC’s composition and operations, R.A. No. 9481 (2007) on the right to self-organization and union registration, R.A. No. 10396 (2013) on mandatory conciliation-mediation, and R.A. No. 10395 (2013) on tripartism. Where an article on these pages carries an amendment, it is marked on the article itself.

The Nine Titles

Title Articles Covers Full text
I — Policy and Definitions 218–219 State policy on free collective bargaining; the definitions that govern the whole Book On this page
II — National Labor Relations Commission 220–231 Creation and composition, jurisdiction of Labor Arbiters and the Commission, powers, appeal, execution NLRC and BLR
III — Bureau of Labor Relations 232–239 The Bureau’s jurisdiction over inter- and intra-union disputes, conciliation, the registry of unions and CBAs NLRC and BLR
IV — Labor Organizations 240–252 Registration, chartering, cancellation, rights and conditions of membership, rights of legitimate labor organizations Labor organizations
V — Coverage 253–257 Who may self-organize, public-sector employees, managerial employees, non-abridgment Labor organizations
VI — Unfair Labor Practices 258–260 The concept, the employer’s ULPs, the union’s ULPs ULP and bargaining
VII — Collective Bargaining and Administration of Agreements 261–272 Procedure, duty to bargain, CBA terms, certification elections, injunction prohibited ULP and bargaining
VII-A — Grievance Machinery and Voluntary Arbitration 273–277 Grievance machinery, jurisdiction of Voluntary Arbitrators, procedure, costs ULP and bargaining
VIII — Strikes and Lockouts and Foreign Involvement 278–287 Notice and voting requirements, assumption of jurisdiction, prohibited activities, foreign assistance, penalties Strikes and lockouts
IX — Special Provisions 288–292 Visitorial power, tripartism, government employees, union dues and other miscellaneous provisions Strikes and lockouts

Book Five’s Renumbering Is Not a Fixed Offset

In Books One, Three and Seven the article numbers did not move at all, and in Book Four every number moved up by exactly six. Book Five is different: the gap between the current and the original number widens as you read. Article 218 was Article 211 — a shift of seven. By Article 242 the shift is seven; by Article 292, which was Article 277, it is fifteen.

Two things caused it. First, lettered insertions became numbered articles. The old Code accumulated articles inserted by amendment and lettered rather than numbered — 234-A, 238-A, 239-A, 242-A, 245-A, 253-A, 258-A, 262-A and 262-B. In the renumbered edition each of these received a whole number of its own, pushing everything after it up by one. Second, one article dropped out. Old Article 220, on compulsory arbitration, was expressly repealed by Section 16 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 130 (1981), so the sequence skips it: Article 226 is old 219, and Article 227 is old 221.

On every page in this library the current number leads and the original follows in brackets — Article 279 [264], for example. If you are reading a case or a commentary written before 2016, its article numbers are the bracketed ones.

Title I — Policy and Definitions (Articles 218 to 219)

Article 218 [211] — Declaration of Policy

A. It is the policy of the State:

(a) To promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations, including voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of settling labor or industrial disputes;

(b) To promote free trade unionism as an instrument for the enhancement of democracy and the promotion of social justice and development;

(c) To foster the free and voluntary organization of a strong and united labor movement;

(d) To promote the enlightenment of workers concerning their rights and obligations as union members and as employees;

(e) To provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of labor or industrial disputes;

(f) To ensure a stable but dynamic and just industrial peace; and

(g) To ensure the participation of workers in decision and policy-making processes affecting their rights, duties and welfare.

B. To encourage a truly democratic method of regulating the relations between the employers and employees by means of agreements freely entered into through collective bargaining, no court or administrative agency or official shall have the power to set or fix wages, rates of pay, hours of work or other terms and conditions of employment, except as otherwise provided under this Code.

Status note: as amended by Section 3 of R.A. No. 6715 (1989). Paragraph B is load-bearing. It is the reason wages and working conditions in a unionized workplace are set by the parties themselves and not fixed by a tribunal — subject to the minimum standards the Code itself imposes, which no agreement can go below.

Article 219 [212] — Definitions

(a) “Commission” means the National Labor Relations Commission or any of its divisions, as the case may be, as provided under this Code.

(b) “Bureau” means the Bureau of Labor Relations and/or the Labor Relations Divisions in the regional offices established under Presidential Decree No. 1, in the Department of Labor.

(c) “Board” means the National Conciliation and Mediation Board established under Executive Order No. 126.

(d) “Council” means the Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council established under Executive Order No. 126, as amended.

(e) “Employer” includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. The term shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or agents except when acting as employer.

(f) “Employee” includes any person in the employ of an employer. The term shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless the Code so explicitly states. It shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular employment.

(g) “Labor organization” means any union or association of employees which exists in whole or in part for the purpose of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning terms and conditions of employment.

(h) “Legitimate labor organization” means any labor organization duly registered with the Department of Labor and Employment, and includes any branch or local thereof.

(i) “Company union” means any labor organization whose formation, function or administration has been assisted by any act defined as unfair labor practice by this Code.

(j) “Bargaining representative” means a legitimate labor organization or any officer or agent of such organization whether or not employed by the employer.

(k) “Unfair labor practice” means any unfair labor practice as expressly defined by this Code.

(l) “Labor dispute” includes any controversy or matter concerning terms and conditions of employment or the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or arranging the terms and conditions of employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.

(m) “Managerial employee” is one who is vested with the powers or prerogatives to lay down and execute management policies and/or to hire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall, discharge, assign or discipline employees. Supervisory employees are those who, in the interest of the employer, effectively recommend such managerial actions if the exercise of such authority is not merely routinary or clerical in nature but requires the use of independent judgment. All employees not falling within any of the above definitions are considered rank-and-file employees for purposes of this Book.

(n) “Voluntary Arbitrator” means any person accredited by the Board as such, or any person named or designated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement by the parties to act as their Voluntary Arbitrator, or one chosen with or without the assistance of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, pursuant to a selection procedure agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, or any official that may be authorized by the Secretary of Labor and Employment to act as Voluntary Arbitrator upon the written request and agreement of the parties to a labor dispute.

(o) “Strike” means any temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of employees as a result of an industrial or labor dispute.

(p) “Lockout” means any temporary refusal of an employer to furnish work as a result of an industrial or labor dispute.

(q) “Internal union dispute” includes all disputes or grievances arising from any violation of or disagreement over any provision of the constitution and by laws of a union, including any violation of the rights and conditions of union membership provided for in this Code.

(r) “Strike-breaker” means any person who obstructs, impedes, or interferes with by force, violence, coercion, threats, or intimidation any peaceful picketing affecting wages, hours or conditions of work or in the exercise of the right of self-organization or collective bargaining.

(s) “Strike area” means the establishment, warehouses, depots, plants or offices, including the sites or premises used as runaway shops, of the employer struck against, as well as the immediate vicinity actually used by picketing strikers in moving to and fro before all points of entrance to and exit from said establishment.

Status note: as amended by Section 4 of R.A. No. 6715 (1989). Paragraph (m) decides more cases than any other definition in the Book. Managerial employees cannot join a labor organization at all; supervisory employees may organize, but not in the same union as rank-and-file employees. Whether a job title is truly managerial turns on the test stated here — the power to lay down and execute policy, or to hire, transfer, discipline and discharge — and not on what the position is called.

Glossary: Labor union → · Bargaining unit → · Strike →

Guides Covering Book Five

Amendment and Status Table

Provision Status Note
Articles 218–292 Renumbered A widening shift, not a fixed offset — see above
Old Article 220 — Compulsory Arbitration Repealed Sec. 16, B.P. Blg. 130 (1981); no current article corresponds to it
Much of the Book Amended R.A. No. 6715 (1989), the Herrera–Veloso Law
Arts. 220, 222 — NLRC composition and appointment Amended R.A. No. 9347 (2006); R.A. No. 10741 (2016)
Union registration and cancellation (Arts. 240–248) Amended R.A. No. 9481 (2007) — cut the grounds for cancellation from ten to three
Art. 234 [228] — Mandatory conciliation New article Inserted by Sec. 1, R.A. No. 10396 (2013)
Art. 290 [275] — Tripartism Amended R.A. No. 10395 (2013)
Art. 291 [276] — Government employees Read with E.O. No. 180 Public-sector unionism is governed by its own executive order and rules

Sources

  • Department of Labor and Employment, Labor Code of the Philippines, as Amended and Renumbered (2022 edition), Book Five, pages 75–115, including DOLE’s amendment and repeal footnotes. Published by DOLE at dole.gov.ph; the same edition is mirrored as a PDF by the International Labour Organization. Accessed 1 September 2026.
  • Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended — lawphil.net
  • Republic Act No. 6715 (1989), the Herrera–Veloso Law; Republic Act No. 9347 (2006); Republic Act No. 9481 (2007); Republic Act No. 10395 (2013); Republic Act No. 10396 (2013); Republic Act No. 10741 (2016)
  • Batas Pambansa Blg. 70 (1980), Blg. 130 (1981) and Blg. 227 (1982); Executive Order No. 111 (1986); Executive Order No. 126 (1987); Presidential Decree No. 1691 (1980)
  • DOLE Department Order No. 40-03, as amended — the implementing rules of Book Five

Sources rechecked as of: September 1, 2026
Last materially reviewed: September 1, 2026

Educational content, not legal advice. This page reproduces statutory text and identifies, where DOLE’s own edition records it, which provisions have been amended or repealed. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Union registration, certification elections, strikes and unfair labor practice cases are procedurally demanding and time-barred; a misstep on notice periods or voting requirements can make otherwise protected activity unlawful. LaborCode.ph is independent and is not a government website, tribunal, or law firm. For advice on an actual dispute, consult a Philippine labor lawyer, DOLE, the NCMB, or the NLRC.