EPO Will Stop Working for 10 Days to Protest Against 'Cocaine King' and His Assault on Democracy, Lawfulness, Transfer of Power at EPO
Will António Campinos "the unready" be ready for his own "chinchillas moment"?
Today... the word came out. Staff, prepare for action. Strikes, work stoppage, all rolled onto one.
Here is the publication sent to over 90% of EPO workers (directly to SUEPO members in SUEPO Munich and SUEPO The Hague), with focus on union members but not limited to them:
INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT
STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETS29 September 2026
su26031hp & su26024mpProduction Freeze: 5-14 October
Make our actions even more visible to the AC
Dear SUEPO members,
Our industrial action has now continued for almost nine months. Staff have demonstrated their determination, yet our concerns about salary erosion remain completely unresolved. Management have stubbornly refused to enter into any negotiation. Now, the message being passed down from upper management via the team managers is that the decision was already made during the Administrative Council in summer, staff should accept it, and it is time to move on.
Our response should be clear: our concerns remain unresolved, staff remain united, and the industrial action continues. The Administrative Council meets again on 13–14 October. This is the moment to show the delegations that staff remain united and our industrial action remains active.
We therefore call on SUEPO members to join an intensified period of work-to-rule action prior and during the Council meeting.
October 5 – 14. No searches. No final actions.
During this period, focus instead on other work: send intermediate communications, follow training courses and undertake other necessary tasks that do not generate search or final-action products.
Back in March 2026, SUEPO called for a previous intensified work-to-rule period, and the staff answered loudly. Over only one week, staff stood together to create a huge impact on the production, resulting in a drop of 2000 products compared to plan, which importantly was not recovered in the period following the intensive action. We have shown that we can collectively act under the protected work-to-rule principles, and can do it again to making the impact of our industrial action visible when the Administrative Council meets.
The timing is particularly significant as the Council considers the future leadership of the Office. After months of industrial action, our message is clear: a return to social peace requires genuine social dialogue and meaningful negotiations with staff representation.
So, between October 5 – 14, lets intensively work-to-rule. Stay united. Make our action visible.
Your SUEPO The Hague and SUEPO Munich
Next week and next month we'll reveal new stories that relate to Cocainegate (there might be a movie coming soon regarding this) and the corrupt leadership from Alicante (not just literally Alicante). Portugal's and/or the EU's reputation is on the line and Campinos (plus Ana) might end up no better than "Kongstad Chinchilla" (Jesper and his wife). History goes in cycles. █