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

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day