Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Time Coronavirus Helped EPO Management Prevent Staff From Protesting and Going on Strike (March 26th)

The suspension of the right to demonstrate and to assemble has negatively affected many, even EPO workers

Romano on Elodie Bergot Elodie Bergot is still bullying EPO staff, sometimes in the name of “diversity” of course… (corporate surrogate or substitute for actual ethics)



Summary: "In view of the spreading of the New Corona Virus, the planned General Assemblies have to be cancelled," the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) wrote in the wake of the crisis across Europe back in March (weeks ahead of a planned strike)

OVER the past three weeks we've published a number of articles based on internal EPO documents. We showed that a campaign is now underway (mass-mailing management) and that António Campinos dealt really poorly with risks and moreover exploited a crisis for the same oppressive measures we saw -- and got accustomed to seeing -- in the Benoît Battistelli era. In simple terms, Campinos puts workers at risk while at the same time crushing their rights, breaking countless laws, and taking their money away. He's a vicious dictator like the ones his father proclaimed to have fought.



"The strike never materialised."Today we'd like to share a document predating the lock-down by not so much (depending on which country). At the start of March SUEPO, the staff union, wanted to march (or protest by means of a general, office-wide strike). It said: "SUEPO is now proposing a common Action Plan for all sites. We had planned to put the Action Plan to the vote in SUEPO General Assemblies at all sites. In view of the spreading of the New Corona Virus, the planned General Assemblies have to be cancelled. SUEPO intends to organise an electronic ballot among its members on the common Action Plan. The local Executive Committees will inform SUEPO members accordingly in the coming days. Tomorrow Friday 6 March an important meeting will take place, where the future Salary Adjustment Procedure will be discussed with management. We will keep you posted."

This was almost 9 months ago. The strike never materialised. But that did not alleviate staff anger, which only accumulated further.

With yellow highlights (ours), here's what was circulated back then.



05 March 2020 su20009cp – 0.2.1

Action Plan



The SUEPO members

Note that - None of the issues listed in the SUEPO’s call for strike of 8 November 2019 (successfully balloted on 28 November 2019) have been solved, nor has substantial progress on these issues been made; - Management, on the basis of a biased Financial Study, wants to erode the salaries and the pensions despite the very healthy financial position of the Office and irrespective of real future economic development; Management has failed to repair the NCS; - The discussions in the WG on Financial Measures followed by the technical WG on Salary Adjustment Procedure (GCC Sub-Committee on SSRP) do not show any sign of evolution towards an acceptable compromise with respect to the Salary Adjustment Procedure.

Decide

- To adapt their output/production in line with the (cumulated) losses endured as a result of the new Salary Adjustment Procedure (SAP), the NCS and the SSP financing.

Decide

- To go on a first day of strike on Thursday 26 March 2020, to draw the attention of the Administrative Council to the discontentment of Staff.

Mandate the Committee

- To inform management accordingly; - To organize all other appropriate actions, including demonstrations; - To consider, in cooperation with the SUEPO committees, submitting a new call for strike at the end of the period specified in Art. 4 of Circ. 347.

Empower the Committees

- To liaise between the SUEPO committees to accelerate or suspend the above mentioned actions (including strikes) depending on the progress of the discussions with management.


The staff of the EPO isn't too happy or complacent about being robbed by EPO management. COVID-19 has not only helped the rich get richer but also crush resistance.

"There’s been class warfare for the last 20 years, and my class has won."

--Warren Buffett

Recent Techrights' Posts

"Governments, local authorities, schools and hospitals can lead by example by procuring only Free Software"
Crossposted from Tux Machines
Cindy Cohn Leaving the Electronic Frontier Foundation While Its Co-founder John Gilmore, Whom She Apparently Helped Oust, Will Celebrate 40 Years of the Free Software Foundation, Inc.
EFF has been busy hoarding GAFAM money, whereas the latter is where all the real activism is done
"Google is Googlebombing KDE's Project Banana"
So is Google googlebombing KDE's Project Banana? You decide.
Some Very Large IRC Networks Are Growing
IRC will turn 38 next year
What Ruben Amorim and Stefano Maffulli Have in Common
Censors Wikipedia and Social Control Media
Microsoft Won't Cooperate in Trying to Tackle EPO Corruption (Microsoft Profits From This Corruption)
Use something like BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi instead
We Are Sad to Hear the Story of Jonathan Riddell, Champion of KDE and GNU/Linux on Desktops/Laptops
I have enormous respect for Jonathan and everything he has done
 
Taking Out the Battery, Opening Up Your Computer, Just Like a "Normie" Would
At this stage, any person who still says "enable Secure Boot" is misguided or persuaded by companies that sell rootkits
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers and Slopfarms Still Infesting Google News (Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" Spreading FUD)
searching for "Linux" today yields a lot of FUD
The Reach of Techrights Has Broadened
We nowadays cover a broader range of issues
Complicating Things for No Actual Benefit, Just Added Risk and More Difficulties Adding GNU/Linux and BSDs
Watch what it's like for people who wish to use BSDs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 15, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 15, 2025
Links 16/09/2025: Autumn Party, RPG Planet, and Optical ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Geminispace Growing at Pace of Over 10% Per Year
Contrary to what some pessimists try to claim
Linux Mint Forums Today: Disable 'Secure Boot', It Doesn't Improve Security, It's Just a Microsoft Obstacle to GNU/Linux Users
They also mention MOK
Solved Less Than an Hour Ago: Trying to Escape Windows, 'Secure Boot' Gets in the Way
'Secure Boot' wasn't meant to even exist in the first place
Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative, Resigns or Gets Removed (We'll Continue Covering OSI Scandals)
A dozen mentions of "AI", not much about "Open Source"
Andy Has Just Nailed It (Regarding Complexity and Failure, a la UEFI)
The users no longer own or control what they buy
Compatibility Support Module (CSM) Versus GNU/Linux Simplicity
what Andy recently called "solutionism"
Links 15/09/2025: "Postal Traffic to US Down by Over 80%" and 'Smart' Spinozacampus Laundry Room Goes AWOL
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Dungeon Hustle and Deleting Oneself From the Net
Links for the day
Breach of EPO's Duty of Care or Cigna Reimbursement Issues
This is the sort of thing that motivated Luigi Mangione to assassinate a CEO
Ask Ubuntu About "Secure Boot" Violation and Laptops That Don't Boot GNU/Linux
Does anyone still believe that "Secure Boot" has anything at all to do with security?
Talking About the Problem vs Talking to the Problem
Wanting an audience is never a good excuse for compromising one's values and principles
Focusing on Patents
The reason we cover the EPO so much is that it's close to home
"Secure Boot Violation": The 'Joys' of Fake Security Gone Wrong
Not everyone reboots every day
Links 15/09/2025: Russia Invades Romanian Airspace, Penske Media Sues Google Over LLM Slop
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2025: Bitcoin ATMs Scam and "Conservative Cryptography" (Backdoors Fantasies)
Links for the day
EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"
The EPO serves no actual function in Europe
Links 15/09/2025: Political Affairs, Censorship, and Copyrights
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Music Genres, Invisible Networks, and Akademy 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 14, 2025
Satya's Plan B: Try to Hide the Massive Extent/Scale/Scope of Microsoft Layoffs
fewer people buy Microsoft
Red Hat News About De Facto Mass Layoffs (Bluewashing) Gone From Reddit (Censored by Gatekeepers), Still Online in The Register
With RTOs, PIPs, relocation etc. expect IBM to "shed off" many Red Hatters
UEFI "Secure Boot Doesn’t Play Nice at the Moment"
UEFI "Secure Boot" does not improve security. It's an artificial obstacle in service of monopoly.
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH, Music, and Reddit
Links for the day
If You Want to "make your 'Windows PC' lean, mean, and fast" You Will Install GNU/Linux or Some BSD
That kind of article says a lot about IDG
Slopwatch: Google News Infested With Slop (About Half of the Results for "Linux" Today)
This is the sort of junk one finds when looking for "Linux" in Google News these days
Links 14/09/2025: Ricky Hatton Dies and McDonald's Declares War on Tipping Culture
Links for the day
Links 14/09/2025: Disasters for CEOs Obsessed With Slop and Slop Companies School Like Fish
Links for the day
"Bad Shim Signature" (Microsoft 'Secure' Boot)
"Fresh install not booting"
What Microsoft Garrett and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar tactics, different "wings"
Links 14/09/2025: US "Economy Sagging", "Michigan Economy Wobbles From Tariffs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: Minimalist Snippet Manager and Omarchy Linux
Links for the day
The Face of the Digital Far Right: Microsoft Lunduke
Microsoft Lunduke is an online extremist that belongs to and panders to the far right
20 Years Later and Academia Isn't the Same
"I never dreamed of being a professor"
'Cancel Culture' by the Right: Microsoft Lunduke Contacts People's Employers Trying to Get Them Fired
Microsoft Lunduke panders to extremists online
"Bad Shim Signature"; So 'Secure' That It Overrides Users' Preferences and Turns Itself Back on (Coercive Measure)
This was a few hours ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 13, 2025