EPO, Europe's Second-Largest Institution, Playing With the Health of Staff, Based on Internal Letter
THE FOLLOWING publication from the Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) of the EPO is not new. It is a few months old, but it is very applicable now that it is the height of winter and the Office is trying to 'save money' on heating (does that save money if workers fall ill or are feeling too cold to work well?).
"In this open letter," LSCMN say, "we ask Ms Simon (VP4) for proper cooling and heating standards."
European Patent Office | LSC Munich | GERMANY
Ms Nellie Simon
Vice-President DG 4 & Site Manager
via email vp4office@epo.org
Local Staff Committee Munich
Comité local du personnel de Munich
Örtlicher Personalausschuss München Email: mnstcom@epo.org
Date: 30.08.2023
sc23019ml
OPEN LETTER
Less “cool” to be in the Office premises than in the past
Dear Ms Simon,
The month of August has been difficult for some staff coming to the EPO premises. The room temperatures, especially in PH 1-4 often reached levels up to 29 °C. The situation was such that colleagues filed tickets to Facility Management to have their air-conditioning system checked.
According to the Communiqué of 11 July 2022, “Less cool than before”, the EPO imposes on its staff temperatures higher in summer (max 27 °C) and lower in winter (min 18 °C) than the standards in Germany. Yet even this value of 27 °C was exceeded in practice in many offices this summer. On the other hand, last winter numerous colleagues reported to us that their offices were too cold for working (some colleagues even had to resort to electrical heaters and wear mittens for typing on the keyboard).
The current policy and practice make it unattractive to come to the EPO premises and have an impact on both the motivation and the efficiency of staff at work.
While we of course support efforts for energy saving, we would like to ask for proper cooling and heating standards.
Sincerely yours
Ingrid Peller
Chair of the Local Staff Committee Munich City, Haar und Brussels
Of course it is cheaper not to properly heat up a workplace, but at what cost? Previously the EPO resorted to greenwashing in various contexts, including workers doing the job from home. But it's a lot more efficient to heat up a shared workplaces of hundreds of workers than to heat up hundreds of different homes.
What is the EPO trying to accomplish here?
LSCMN make a good and valid point. They say the "current policy and practice make it unattractive to come to the EPO premises"; so what comes next? They might say not many people come in, therefore the office is no longer necessary or some offices - perhaps sections thereof - can be sold/rented out. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy - like the ones being used to crush the NHS in the UK (the modus operandi for privatisation of public assets or the Commons).
Worse yet, as we shall show later this month, buzzwords like "Hey Hi" (AI) are being used to increasingly put forth justification for removal of (some) examiners. Europe would suffer if patent-granting processes were to be automated.
This is what happens when clueless, incompetent and corrupt officials take over an institution. █