Prove them otherwise, join the strike

It wasn't even mentioned by EPO at Twitter, just second-hand (retweet)

Summary: The EPO (Organisation) faces an unprecedented crisis and a large-scale strike, so it tries to keep silent about it until it's too late and there's high probability that EPO offices will be empty this week

THE EPO isn't doing too well. The management is to blame. There is now an emergency at the EPO and the Board 28 (B28) of the Administrative Council calls it a "crisis". As this new comment points out: "The Board B28 of the Admin Council has just indicated an extra meeting on 13.04 (see EPO.org) [we looked around the site, but couldn't find an announcement about it until someone showed us the relevant page. Calendar here (warning: epo.org link) has it and it says "13.4.2016, Board of the Administrative Council, B28/72]. Couldn't wait to next planned meeting on 24.05 it seems. Strike on 07.04. Will make for an interesting '(lack of) progress' report? Certainly no news internally of any discussions/meetings/proposals on social matters. No doubt staff committees and unions will be portrayed as refusing to cooperate."

For background about this week's strike (tomorrow is the last day of normal operation) and again in chronological order, as before:

• Team Battistelli Tries to Bend the Rules to Prevent the European Patent Office From Going on Strike
• Nearly a Thousand EPO Employees Prepared to Go on Strike in Just a Fortnight, Team Battistelli Getting Desperate to Stop That
• EPO Strike Still Planned, More Details to be Published Soon
• Forget Staff Union-busting 'Strike Ballots', How About Ballots on Presidential Matters?
• Vote for EPO Strike This Tuesday in Order to Replace EPO Management
• 4,062 of Staff Vote on EPO Strike, Over 91% in Favour
• Team Battistelli's Bergot Reacts to Strike Action
• The European Patent Organisation's Administrative Council Can Stop the Strike by Agreeing/Working to Reintegrate Staff Representatives and End Benoît Battistelli’s Witch-hunts
• Super Tuesday: EPO Workers Are Voting for a Strike Today
• Battistelli Unsurprisingly Rejects Opportunity to Salvage His Status, EPO Strike Likely to Proceed Soon
• Battistelli is Trying to Save His EPO Job After Getting Called Out, But Doesn't Give Back Busted Union Leaders Their Jobs; Strike Imminent
• Crisis Deepens at the European Patent Office, General Strike Planned for Next Thursday
• EPO Strike in 3.5 Days Effective in All Sites, Lots for EPO Staff to be Angry About
• EPO Management Says Not a Word About Strike This Week, Not Informing Customers/Stakeholders Either

This morning, after the media had already written about it and after we published the last item above, the EPO finally said something about the strike (warning: epo.org link) and it's rather laughable. They belittle it. To quote: "The European Patent Office regrets the disturbance which may be caused by these actions, but wishes to reassure the public that all measures to ensure the normal functioning of the Office are in place and that services to users remain unaffected."

Well, prove them wrong. The EPO's management was hoping it can magically squash the strike (it tried very hard before, as the links above show) or, failing that, keep staff uninformed about it (so that they still come to work on a day of strike). This strategy basically backfired. They now understand that this problem isn't going away. Details below. ⬆