A NEW collective bargaining agreement with the non-academic employees remains remote as the Samahang Manggagawa ng UST (SM-UST) elevated the dispute to the Court of Appeals, arguing that Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas might have abused her authority in ruling on a compromise that the Union says is not advantageous to it.
But the University has filed before the Court of Appeals a motion to dismiss SM-UST’s petition for certiorari last Oct. 4 arguing that the petition was filed two days beyond the prescribed period (60 days) from the dismissal of the Union’s previous motion last July 19.
Last September, SM-UST filed a petition before the Court of Appeals seeking the reversal of the decision handed down by Secretary Sto. Tomas.
SM-UST insists it met the deadline.
According to SM-UST counsel Romulo Arellano, the grace period had interruptions. He explained that the grace period should not be counted from the date of the union’s dismissal last July 19 because it was just an interlocutory order. An interlocutory order is an order issued by the court on a particular part of the case and not on the case itself.
In their comment to the motion to dismiss, SM-UST also alleged that the University filed the motion to dismiss to cause “undue delay.”
It added that UST, as private respondent, is not allowed to file the motion since such is based on the court’s discretion.
Center for Human Resources and Development director Atty. Manuel Beaniza refused to comment on the issue. Elka Krystle R. Requinta
