Short answer. Yes. Under Article 289 of the Revised Penal Code, a person who uses violence or threats to compel workers in the free and legal exercise of their work — whether to organize, maintain, or prevent a strike or coalition of labor or capital — commits a crime, unless the act amounts to a more serious offense under the Code.
What the law says
any person who, for the purpose of organizing, maintaining or preventing coalitions of capital or labor, strike of laborers or lock-out of employers, shall employ violence or threats in such a degree as to compel or force the laborers or employees in the free and legal exercise of their industry or work
Revised Penal Code, Article 289 — Coercing Labor Or Capital Combinations. Read the full provision →
What the law says
arresto mayor
Revised Penal Code, Article 289 — Coercing Labor Or Capital Combinations. Read the full provision →
What the law says
if the act shall not constitute a more serious offense in accordance with the provisions of this Code
Revised Penal Code, Article 289 — Coercing Labor Or Capital Combinations. Read the full provision →
Forcing workers by violence or threats is a crime
Article 289 punishes coercion in labor disputes. It falls upon any person who, for the purpose of organizing, maintaining or preventing coalitions of capital or labor, strike of laborers or lock-out of employers, shall employ violence or threats in such a degree as to compel or force the laborers or employees in the free and legal exercise of their industry or work. The wrong is using violence or threats to override a worker's free choice — whether to push him into a strike, keep him in one, or stop him from joining a labor or capital coalition. The law protects the free and legal exercise of work.
It protects free choice on both sides
The article is even-handed. It speaks of coalitions of capital or labor, of a strike of laborers or a lock-out of employers. What it forbids is compulsion by violence or threats, whichever direction it runs. A worker may lawfully decide to join a strike or to keep working; an employer may lawfully organize or not. Article 289 steps in when someone uses force or intimidation to take that choice away. The point protected is the freedom to exercise one's industry or work without being driven by violence or threats into a position one has not freely chosen.
The penalty, and the 'more serious offense' clause
On conviction, Article 289 imposes arresto mayor and a fine. The peso figure in the current text was set by Republic Act No. 10951 (2017), which revised the fines throughout the Code; older copies show the 1930 amount, so confirm the version before citing a number. Crucially, the article applies only if the act shall not constitute a more serious offense in accordance with the provisions of this Code. So if the violence used amounts to a graver crime — for instance a serious physical injury or grave threat — the offender is prosecuted under that heavier provision instead.
What the article does not cover
Article 289 targets violence or threats used to compel; it does not punish peaceful, lawful union activity, persuasion, or an ordinary strike conducted without coercion. Nor does it criminalize an employer's or worker's lawful economic decisions freely made. Its reach is also capped by the "more serious offense" clause, so it does not double-punish conduct already covered by a graver article. The decisive questions are whether violence or threats were used, and whether they were of a degree that forced workers away from the free and legal exercise of their work.