Strikes and lockouts.
SEC. 4. Strikes and lockouts.—The Court shall take cognizance for purposes of prevention, arbitration, decision and settlement, of any industrial or agricultural dispute causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout, arising from differences as regards wages, shares or compensation, hours of labor or conditions of tenancy or employment, between employers and employees or laborers and between landlords and tenants or farm-laborers, provided that the number of employees, laborers or tenants or farm-laborers involved exceeds thirty, and such industrial or agricultural dispute is submitted to the Court by the Secretary of Labor, or by any or both of the parties to the controversy and certified by the Secretary of Labor as existing and proper to be dealt with by the Court for the sake of public interest.
In all such cases, the Secretary of Labor or the party or parties submitting the disputes, shall clearly and specifically state in writing the questions to be decided. Upon the submission of such a controversy or question by the Secretary of Labor, his intervention therein as authorized by law shall cease.
The Court shall, before hearing the dispute and in the course of such hearing, endeavor to reconcile the parties and induce them to settle the dispute by amicable agreement. If any agreement as to the whole or any part of the dispute is arrived at by the parties, a memorandum of its terms shall be made in writing, signed and acknowledged by the parties thereto before the Judge of the Court or any official acting in his behalf and authorized to administer oaths or acknowledgments, or, before a notary public. The memorandum shall be filed in the office of the Clerk of the Court, and, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, shall, as between the parties to the agreement, have the same effect as, and be deemed to be, a decision or award.
Minimum wage and maximum "canon" or rental.
SEC. 5. Minimum wage and maximum "canon" or rental.—Whenever conditions in a given industry or in a given locality so warrant, and in the interest of public welfare and for the promotion of industrial peace and progress, the President of the Philippines shall direct the Court of Industrial Relations to investigate and study all pertinent facts related to the industry concerned or to the industries established in a designated locality, with a view to determining the necessity and fairness of fixing and adopting for such industry or locality a minimum wage or share of laborers or tenants, or a maximum "canon" or rental to be paid by the "inquilinos" or tenants or lessees to landowners.
In order to determine the necessity and fairness of adopting such measures, and in order to arrive at a proper, just, and reasonable minimum wage or share or maximum "canon" or rental, the Court shall make a careful examination of the amount of capital invested in the industry or industries concerned, the number of laborers employed, the cost of production, insurance and transportation, market prices, benefits or gains derived or losses suffered or expected, wages and shares as well as other income of laborers and tenants, minimum cost of living and labor conditions in general, and such other factors and circumstances as may, in its opinion, be necessary to fairly and adequately accomplish the purpose of the investigation.
After such an examination, and after the Court is satisfied of the necessity and fairness of fixing and adopting a minimum wage or share or maximum "canon" or rental, for such locality or industry, it shall tentatively fix such minimum wage or share or maximum "canon" or rental as would give the workingmen a just compensation for their labor and an adequate income to meet the essential necessities of civilized life, and at the same time allow the capital a fair return on its investment.
When determining a minimum wage or share for laborers and tenants engaged in a given industry, the Court may, in its discretion, taking into account the conditions prevailing in the different localities where such industry is carried on, fix different minimum wages or shares, according to localities or fix different minimum wages or shares according to the industries existing in that locality.
A minimum wage or share shall be determined and fixed for laborers working by the hours, day or month, or by piece-work, and for tenants sharing in the crop or paid by measurement unit. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the order fixing a minimum wage, a minimum wage in industrial or manufacturing enterprises shall be understood to be fixed on the basis of eight hour daily labor, and employees and laborers working in excess of such number of hours shall be entitled to a proportionate increase in their wages.
The Court may, by so specifically providing in its order fixing a minimum wage, exclude apprentices from the provisions thereof, but the number of such apprentices in an industrial firm or labor establishment shall not exceed twenty per centum of the total number of laborers employed therein.
Insofar as possible, and when deemed necessary to better carry out the provisions of this Act, the Court may classify or group the laborers according to the kind and importance of the work and the amount or degree of skill, training, experience and knowledge required and shall fix for each class or group a minimum wage or compensation.
In like manner, it may classify or group the tenants or lessees according- to the kind of work they perform, the terms of the contract with the landowners and the productivity of the lands they occupy, and shall be their minimum share in the crop or the maximum "canon" or rental to be paid to the landowners.
After such minimum wage or share or maximum "canon" or rental has been tentatively fixed by the Court, the Court shall order the publication of such tentative decision in three successive issues of two newspapers of general circulation in the locality or localities affected, one published in English and another in Spanish. All parties not agreeing to such tentative decision may, within forty-five days after the first publication, submit to the Court their written objections. With due consideration to such objections, and after the expiration of the period given to question such tentative decision, the Court shall adopt a final minimum wage or share or maximum "canon" or rental, which shall, with the approval of the President of the Philippines, be binding upon everyone concerned and shall have the force and effect of law thirty days after the approval by the President duly promulgated in an executive proclamation.
