Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Staff Likely Going on Strike For a Second Year in a Row

Video download link



Summary: "This 1-day strike is merely the beginning of an ongoing process," says SUEPO, the staff union of the EPO

THE union of EPO staff points out that last month's strike, which included about half the staff in Vienna, "is the highest result of an industrial action since 2016 when EPO staff went on strike in support of the sanctioned staff representatives."



"It seems rather apparent that more actions are on the way, probably including strikes."The union points out that António Campinos is merely a continuation of the Benoît Battistelli regime and staff hasn't been gullible enough to believe otherwise.

We reproduce below the contents of a letter circulated some hours ago among union members:

INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETS

Zentraler Vorstand | Central Executive Committee | Bureau central

28/01/2021 su21001cp – 0.2.1-0.3.2

Strike action of 15 December 2020

An undeniable signal of social unrest



Dear SUEPO Members, Dear Colleagues,

On 15 December 2020, EPO staff went on a 1-day warning strike during the December meeting of the Administrative Council. Overall, 1448 colleagues representing 22,6% of all staff participated in the strike in a full or half day of strike1.

It is the highest result of an industrial action since 2016 when EPO staff went on strike2 in support of the sanctioned staff representatives: Elizabeth Hardon, Ion Brumme, Laurent Prunier, Aurélien Pétiaud and Michael Lund. Up to now, the disciplinary cases of the latter two remain unsolved.

The participation was a success despite the difficulties in organizing such an action: the late communication of the results of the salary adjustment procedure only allowed a reaction on extremely short notice, the Covid-19 pandemic imposes everyone to be isolated at home, and General Assemblies and floor meetings within the Office premises are not allowed.

This strike action revealed that authoritarian methods dating from the Battistelli times are still prevailing in the EPO of Mr Campinos: the strike registration tool was made unavailable to Team Managers and above, and those who intended to participate were summoned to an “explanation” meeting with their Principal Director.

Despite the ever increasing number of managers, the increasing number of colleagues on parental leave or other leave because of the pandemic, the strike was well followed.

The reactions show that EPO staff sent an undeniable signal of social unrest to the President, senior management and the Council delegations. Indeed, on the day of the Administrative Council meeting, the EPO administration was quite reluctant to communicate on the strike with the delegations. It was only after quite some prompting that the results were given to the Administrative Council – so much for the President’s “Social Dialogue” KPI. In the meeting, Ms Simon (VP4) “thank[ed] those who nevertheless produced on that day and kept the production figures around the usual levels”. Such cynicism strongly reminded us of the Battistelli times and is difficult to reconcile with Mr Campinos claim for social dialogue.

This 1-day strike is merely the beginning of an ongoing process. It was the first necessary condition to bring our administration to their senses. The coming meetings will reveal whether the Administration will continue to trump their alternative reality.

Keep yourselves informed – read up on the publications of Staff Representation and SUEPO, participate in the ongoing CSC Petition, in upcoming (online) floor meetings, workshops, in the Staff Rep public MS Teams fora, and get in touch.

Together we are strong for future actions, including massively filing Requests for Review’s and ensuing appeals.

Your SUEPO Central

1 ”Strike action on 15 December” anonymous Intranet announcement of 16 December 2020 2 “Euro patent office strike” The Register article (7 April 2016)


The video at the top discusses further details and some background information. It seems rather apparent that more actions are on the way, probably including strikes.

Recent Techrights' Posts

LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
Google as a 'Bullshit Generator' Disguised as Intelligence
It'll probably cause Google to get sued a lot, both by individuals and companies
As Expected, Google in the UK Now Experiments With Slop Instead of Web Search
At this point more people ought to stop and think: Does Google's search engine deserve trust?
Sabotaging Linux on Behalf of Microsoft With UEFI 'Secure' Boot (De Facto Remote 'Kill Switch'), Then Defaming, Stalking and Harassing Critics of 'Secure' Boot for 12 Years, Then SLAPPing Their Spouses and Them
The sorts of stubborn lunatics we've been dealing with
 
Meeting (Webchat) With Maria Arranz Gomez, Florian Grundies, Jürgen Janda and Konstantinos Kortsaris Confronts EPO Management About Breaking Promises and Crushing Workers
The lack of consistent messages suggests plans other than what's advertised and the lack of consultation (secrecy) likewise
Links 01/08/2025: "The Great British Firewall" and U.S. Army Sponsors Palantir
Links for the day
For Second Day in a Row, Top Story in The Register MS is "Microsoft Says"
The editor in chief exercises control over everybody else
Stability and Reliability, Backward Compatibility
I don't fancy relying on social control media as "sources"
What "the News" Looks Like in 2025
The "says" (or "sez") phenomenon
History Will Be Distorted, Sometimes Intentionally, Under the Guise of Intelligence (Manipulated/Curated Slop)
Militarised misinformation or military-grade chaff is a national security threat, even domestically
Financial Engineering Companies: A Company Worth 4 Trillion Dollars Would Not Borrow 100+ Billion Dollars at Interest Rates Like Today's
Many headlines perpetuate the lie Microsoft had just 2 waves of layoffs
Microsoft is Googlebombing "Linux" While Paying Former News Sites to Publish SPAM
How much lower will IDG sink?
The Data You Don't Give Away is Your Advantage
stop sharing data that does not need to be shared
Being Obedient or Doing the Right Thing
The world always changes for the better because of people who think "Outside the Box", not the cogs
Gemini Links 01/08/2025: Happy Hacking Keyboards and New Gemini Arrivals
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 31, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 31, 2025
Moving on in Techrights, Geeks Gonna Geek
In the coming weeks we plan to focus (as we explained last week) on patents, GNU/Linux issues, and the occasional philosophical essays
Slopwatch: Google News Has Lost the Plot
Almost the majority of articles returned for "Linux" are fakes
Links 31/07/2025: Australia Restricts YouTube Access, Personal Privacy at Risk
Links for the day
Links 31/07/2025: Spotify Collapses and Spotify Now Forcing Some Users to Undergo Face-Scanning
Links for the day
A Lot of Supposedly "Successful" Businesses Are Just Debt-Racking Vessels Without Any Prospects of Financial Sustainability
The probability of bankruptcy of any business is more than 0%
theregister.com: The Voice of Microsoft US?
It basically sold out
Yes, You Can Love and Adore Things Whilst Also Criticising Them
Is society being divided and groomed/primed to be resistant to constructive criticism?
Links 31/07/2025: War in Ukraine, Security News, and Cyberattacks Against Journalists on the Rise
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/07/2025: Fake Money and Gemini Diaries
Links for the day
An Illusion and Cult Worship of Magnitude (Ubiquity as "Victory")
GNU has been around for over 40 years and it'll likely continue to exist for another 40 (in some form)
Google: From Pointing to Relevant Sites to Pointing to Social Control Media to Actually Parroting Social Control Media as "Facts"
Google has become a misinformation company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 30, 2025
How to Report Apple Layoffs Without Saying the "L" Word
don't look for the "L" word
Wall Street Does Not Care About Microsoft's Impending (August) Layoffs, It Believes Lies From Microsoft, Whose Debt Grows Rapidly
If Microsoft is doing so well and swimming in money, why so many cuts (about 29,000 layoffs so far this year)?
Wayland Considered Harmful (to GNU/Linux Adoption)
it's not limited to games
My Experience With Judges Has been Positive, But We Must Still Pursue SLAPP Reform in the United Kingdom
We believe it'll be a "feather in the cap" if we can help change laws in the UK to better protect investigative reporters
Slopwatch Makes the Web Better
Remember what happened to BetaNews?
Slopwatch: Google News is Pumping in Lots of Web Traffic Into Fake Sites That Say "Linux"
somewhere between 30% and 40% of today's "news" about "Linux", as seen by Google News, is LLM slop
Links 30/07/2025: Climate Calamities Highlighted, Kyrgyzstan Crackdown on Expression/Freedoms
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Watson’s List of Limits, Lysenko 2000
Links for the day
Riot for peace & Love: Catholic Influencers and Digital Missionaries welcome Jubilee of Youth
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Some People See What Others See... But Only 40 Years Later
When people deviate from "the norm" they typically get ridiculed and dismissed as "crazy"
Links 30/07/2025: Tea Class Action and Google Killing the Web With Slop
Links for the day
Last Month Our IRC Community Turned 17
Funnily enough we never missed a single day when it comes to logging
"The Unix Kernel"
Linux was inspired by MINIX
The Register Relays Microsoft Marketing, Dubs That Marketing "Research"
Hours ago they did a "Microsoft sez" piece
Dealing With Sociopaths, Liars, and Cranks
A dysfunctional society such as this would never develop
Not Owning Mobile Phones
It's not about resistance; it's common sense
Google 'Search' is Fast Becoming No Better Than Social Control Media Infested With Bots
Google emerged almost 30 years ago as a company looking to organise the Web and direct people towards informative pages. That Google is dead.
PCLinuxOS Had Functional Backups Before the House Fire, the Site Will be Restored in New Webhost
This is the direction we want for GNU/Linux, not some IBM sales strategy
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Two Sides of Me and "Hooked on Cosmic Voyage"
Links for the day
Microsoft Will Continue Resorting to Crimes in Order to Keep GNU/Linux Usage Down
It is a real problem and we'll revisit it later this week
GAFAM 'Revolving Doors' at The Register and a "Bribe Price List"
"an analyst at Microsoft"
Microsoft Rapidly Shrinking (No, It's Not About Efficiency, It's About Unbearable Debt)
We'll soon see how much debt grew in the past quarter
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Corruption is the Standard Operating Procedure at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The EPO is a dictatorship that stains Europe
Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) at the European Patent Office (EPO) Requests an Urgent Meeting to Avoid Abolishing the Office
This is dictatorship led by the most corrupt
Slopwatch: Fake 'Linux' 'Articles' and Spamfarms/Slopfarms
at least 5 fake articles in one day