Bonum Certa Men Certa

Article Translation (de Volkskrant): EPO Employees Are Tired of Tyranny and Take to the Streets

de Volkskrant article



Summary: A somewhat belated translation of Dutch media coverage of the EPO staff protest in Rijswijk last month

THE EPO is alienating many people in Holland. All that these people have to do is switch on the television, pick up a newspaper, or read some blogs/news sites online. Petra Kramer has thankfully offered help with translation of Dutch articles about the EPO. One of these articles is a month old, but we never got a translation of it before, so here it goes:

EPO Employees are tired of tyranny and take to the streets



Report: Employees European Patent Office to the streets

Five suicides in three years, colleagues collapse: employees of the European Patent Organisation, tired of the tyrannical leadership - "They have no compassion - take to the streets.

"Elisabeth, Ion, Malika, Laurent, Jésus." A British employee of the European Patent Office in Rijswijk has written the names of five suspended or be it sacked colleagues on his T-shirt. With several hundred colleagues, he demonstrates in front of the Hague Peace Palace on a Thursday afternoon. "My name does not matter, it's too dangerous to mention."

For some time a high rising conflict has been festering between the staff and the top of the European Patent Office, the international organization with seven thousand employees which assesses the patent requests for 38 European countries. Their boss, the Frenchman Benoît Battistelli, imposed the deterioration of working conditions from his office in Munich so claims the accusation.

The specific reason for the demonstration was the dismissal of two colleagues and the demotion of a third party in Munich. One of those affected is the department chair of the Suepo union in Munich, the Dutch Elizabeth Hardon. Last week, all 1,300 employees in Munich took to the streets yesterday 900 of the 2,700 workers from Rijswijk demonstrated in the Hague embassy district.

"I want my rights back," it says on a banner. On a T-shirt that says "I support my suspended colleague" 'suspended' is crossed out with pencil and replaced by" fired !!! ".

"It's a vendetta between top management and the unions," a protester analyses during the protest march of the French to the German embassy and back. "There are dismissed colleagues and some of their pension will be retained." Those who are critical of or working for the federal expect reprisals. Last year we found that executives of the union are monitored by investigators of the controversial British research firm Control Risks.

The otherwise quiet embassy district is overwhelmed by whistle-blowing protestors. Many protesters wear earplugs. A German ambassador is there to receive the petition. A German worker: "Because of the the international status we do not know where to file our complaint. Should we do it at the House of Representatives? At minister Ascher? At the European Parliament? There is an external procedure for labour disputes but it takes eight years."

The last three years there were five suicides among staff, two of them in Rijswijk. An employee took his own life on the last day of his summer vacation. Before that another employee jumped of the seventh floor. Labour inspection was not allowed to investigate.

"As an international organization we are outside the legal framework," the British patent expert explains. "We may indeed refuse access to any inspection because we have immunity, but that does nnot mean we have to do it course."

Among the staff in Rijswijk turmoil has grown after a critical colleague succumbed to the pressure on Friday. "He collapsed in the cafeteria and had to be transported by ambulance. But the next week he had to immediately explain himself, "says an Italian. "They have no compassion."

Appointing volunteers

Next week, CEO Battistelli will visit the Netherlands. He wants to talk with a delegation of the staff, so say several protesters, but no one dares. "Now his department is appointing volunteers," sneers a Spaniard. "Call it anything but voluntary."

The German worker, who works in Rijswijk for years, pointing to him: 'Surely three-quarters of these people have a doctorate, but we are afraid to go on the street. That's ridiculous. It's like North Korea. "

After a half an hour the buses return to the office in Rijswijk. Hundreds of colleagues who did not dare to demonstrate are waiting for them. "There is a lot of fatalism. Many colleagues say that we have already lost the battle, "says a Frenchman. "They are afraid to put their head on the chopping block."


Petra Kramer's note on the above, due to the stubborn paywall, was this: "Human corrected machine translation of http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/medewerkers-europese-octrooi-organisatie-zijn-tirannie-beu-en-gaan-de-straat-op~a4234211/ Paywalled, but if you don't have any cookies from that site it should be accessible for free."

Recent Techrights' Posts

Online Safety Act Tries to Accomplish the Impossible
All I can say is, "good luck with that!"
Microsoft Windows "Market Share" Measured Around 2.7% in Iraq, Plunges to 6.5% in Saudi Arabia
Microsoft isn't on the agenda in Iraq
Video: The Rise of GNU/Linux and Free Software as Seen by RMS in 2004
DTP's founder argued that when Windows goes below 85% "market share", it'll lose its grip in the monopoly sense
 
Next Month 'New Techrights' Turns Two
Next month, on the fourth week, it'll be 2 years since the migration
Definitely Not a Ponzi Scheme
Bitcoin v Microsoft
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a Billionaires' Lobby
Billionaires that control tech companies
Microsoft Borrows 3 Billion Dollars Per Month, a Company Truly Worth Trillions Would Not Do This
if Windows (and Office) "market share" fell from about 90% to barely 30%, how come Microsoft is now "valued" at 20 times more?
It's Even Worse Than Microsoft Lunduke Puts It; GNOME is SLAPPing Journalists
In our experience, GNOME is so malicious - some elements of it in particular - that it would launch multiple simultaneous SLAPP campaigns not only against journalists but also their spouses
GNU/Linux Adoption Reaches All-Time Highs in Chile, statCounter Indicates
This month marks 4 years since Vista 11 came out (as a fake "leak") and some surveys still measure its adoption at less than 40%
Slop Will Not Change the World
Some of us grow up sooner and leave that nonsense behind (or altogether avoid/skip it)
Gemini Links 03/08/2025: Nostalgia and TOFU
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 02, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 02, 2025
Google Throwing Out the Search Engine With the Bathwater is a Complete and Utter 'Shi---ow' as the Company Drowns in Debt, Layoffs, and Worse
The mainstream media almost never mentions GAFAM debt
Operating Systems' Statistics in New Zealand: GNU/Linux Up, Windows Down to All-Time Lows
Remember all this when the media says that Microsoft became like 10 times more valuable in those 15 years (from 400 billion to 4,000 billion in alleged "worth")
GNU/Linux Share in Sweden Has Doubled Since PewDiePie, A Swede, Recommended It
months ago he moved to GNU/Linux, then told others to consider doing the same
GNU/Linux Hits Record High in Portugal
GNU/Linux picking up in Portugal
Gemini Protocol is Not Dying, It's Growing
When people say things like "Gemini Protocol is dying" the data does not support them
GNU/Linux is Thriving This Summer
It is meanwhile acknowledged, even by Microsoft pushers, that many GNU/Linux PCs will get sabotaged next month
The End of Microsoft's Reign in Spain: Windows Falls to All-Time Lows in Spanish Web Traffic
Windows sank to new lows in Spain
The Bots Never Sleep: In The Weekends, Slopfarms Dominate Google News, Majority of Entries in Google Are Fake Articles About 'Linux'
Google is fast becoming an ocean of plagiarism; the same goes for Google News, which was supposed to have extra quality control
Russia's Yandex Has Caught Up With Bing in Terms of "Market Share"
Microsoft has been firing loads of Bing workers for over 2 years already
Canada: GNU/Linux Up to Records Highs, Windows Down to Record Lows
Microsoft already announcing some plans to shut down Vista 11
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: Transducers in Typed Racket and American ISPs
Links for the day
Links 02/08/2025: Microsoft Already Kills Vista 11 SE, Smartphone Sales Down, Truth Gets "You're Fired!" in the US
Links for the day
Russia: GNU/Linux Rises to Highest Adoption Level Since Invasion of Ukraine
Moving up in the north
Microsoft's Latest Financial Report: We "Gained" 300 Million Dollars in "Goodwill" and Liabilities Grew by 32 Billion Dollars
Microsoft's debt has reached an all-time high
The Register US = The Register MS
Formerly The Register UK
Weeks After Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan Windows Falls to All-Time Lows
Only less than a month ago it was quietly revealed, based on laid-off staff, that Microsoft shut down in Pakistan
Criminal Behaviour is the Standard Operating Procedure at Microsoft
In the future I'll be able to tell how, when dealing with SLAPPs from Microsofters, their Microsoft services failed me and sometimes even blocked my contacts
GNU/Linux Rises to All-Time Highs in Europe
many people will get fired for buying Microsoft
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux on the Client Desktop/Laptop, Based on Steam Survey
GNU/Linux rose to 2.89% in Steam
Links 02/08/2025: Blaugust 2025 and "Russia Declares Navalny Memoir ‘Extremist’"
Links for the day
Free Software is Not a Business Model
Go ahead, ask your friend, "how do you plan to monetise your children?"
When (Almost) One-Man Operations Are Disguised as Medium-Sized Companies
the CEO hides in the US (hiding from his ex-wives, 4 daughters from those wives, and Sirius staff that he defrauded)
LLM Slop Harms Real Literature, Real Web Sites, Real Journalism
LLM slop is a parasite and it'll run out of legitimate outputs
Upcoming OSI Scandal Series
The OSI is a rogue actor because it serves Microsoft in exchange for money
Slopwatch: The Issue Persists, But the Consensus in the Media Changes as Google Enrages It With LLM Plagiarism
We've meanwhile assessed the latest output from Linuxiac
Microsoft Actually in Trouble, Microsofters Unable to Obey Judges' Orders
For the second time in a week, Microsofters are unable to obey orders
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 01, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 01, 2025
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Links 02/08/2025: İstanbul Retail Inflation Reaches 42.48%, US FBI Opens Office in New Zealand
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: ZFS, LLM Hype, and Fake Modules
Links for the day
Links 01/08/2025: Health, Conflict, and Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Microsoft's Debt Exploded by 15.4 Billion Dollars in the Past 9 Months Alone (Despite All the Layoffs)
As of minutes ago, at 6PM on a Friday, the numbers are made public
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
LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
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?
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?
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