Bonum Certa Men Certa

Why 2,657 EPO Workers Going on Strike is Actually a Lot Less Than Would Strike If It Wasn't for Obstructions From Team Battistelli

There are many well-documented techniques for suppressing strikes, including yellow unions like FFPE-EPO

Scabs Source: Strikebreaker



Summary: Official figures from the European Patent Office (EPO) don't tell the full story about the extent of unrest at the Office, as a reader explained to us earlier today

THE European Patent Office had its biggest day of strike yesterday, but it would be a lot bigger if it wasn't for dirty tactics from Battistelli and his goons. We already wrote several articles about strike suppression (like voter suppression) tactics and hereon we have some more information about the latest such tactics. The media in the UK wrote at least two articles about the strike. The second we found says that 2,657 is the exact number of people who were officially on strike. To quote the relevant parts: "More than 2,600 staff at the European Patent Office (EPO) went on strike yesterday, in what an EPO source has claimed is the highest number of strikers the office has seen. According to the source, 2,078 employees were on strike for the full day, while 579 people went on a half-day strike. The total number of strikers throughout the day stood at 2,657 across the EPO’s four sites. In 2014, 1,455 of the office’s staff went on strike."



But the real question is, how many people wanted to go on strike but couldn't? "FYI," one reader told us, "EPO strike figures" aren't the full story. Here is the message in full:

According to the official strike numbers, published by PD HR Elodie Bergot on 8 April 2016, in total 2.657 EPO employees were registered on strike on 7 April (2.078 full-day, 579 half-day). This seems to be the highest official strike turnout ever reached by EPO staff and corresponds to almost 40% of the currently about 6.800 EPO employees. To compare with, the highest previous official strike figure (at least since Mr Battistelli became president) , as of 20 November 2014, was 2.537. At the time, Florian Mueller reported that "2,538 staff representing 36.7% of the workforce" participated in the strike (€« http://www.fosspatents.com/2014/12/european-patent-office-examiners.html €»).

As usual, managers, manager assistants, probationers, sick employees, staff working for the administration or providing infrastructure services were not authorised to strike. EPO management used a number of tricks to hinder employees to go on strike on 7 April, for example by scheduling meetings for that day and by applying their usual intimidation tactics. And this week, (presumably) several hundred staff members at the branch in Rijswijk were on leave due to the holidays of the British School at The Hague, and did not have the opportunity to go on strike.

Considering this, more than half of those who had the possibility to walk out, were on strike on Thursday 7 April 2016. This shows that the motivation to go on strike must have been extremely high this time.

The strike figures put pressure on the EPO president and will certainly have an influence on the Administrative Council’s “Board 28” meeting scheduled for next week.



What can one deduce from this? 1) a lot of EPO workers are so upset at the management that they're willing to take personal risk and pay cut. 2) the EPO's management continues to use all sorts of dirty tricks to prevent workers from exercising their right to protest/strike (retribution/reprisal notwithstanding). 3) it's time to sack Battistelli next week as the crisis only deepens and Battistelli has done virtually nothing he was asked to do three weeks ago (no point waiting another 2 months).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.