"Many harvests have passed since the passage of the nation’s first modern labor laws, and all that time, generations of farmworkers have been shut out of bedrock federal labor standards, such as overtime pay and collective bargaining. But New York’s farmworkers may soon see a new dawn for labor rights, as lawmakers consider groundbreaking reforms and the courts open the door to unionization." (Article published earlier today)

Summary: President Campinos managed to avert a strike coinciding with the next meeting of the Administrative Council; but that might only be temporary a reprieve

THE Staff Union of the European Patent Office (EPO), or SUEPO for short, appears to have postponed the strike now that there's a sense that collective bargaining is possible.

António Campinos is given more time to show that he's not just another Battistelli. This was noted by SUEPO in the afternoon (after someone had chatted with IPPro Magazine's Barney Dixon) and people still take note. Key passages:

SUEPO said it had decided not to strike “this time”. A source close to the staff union said its patience had reached its limits, hence the call for the strike.

The source said previous “deleterious” policies and management that had arrived under previous EPO president Benoît Battistelli, had remained in place one year after Campinos’ arrival.

However, during Campinos’ meetings with the CSC and SUEPO he had shown signs of “compromise”.

The source added: “SUEPO is a responsible social partner and decided to give him a chance, therefore it suspended the called strike for now. However, SUEPO will monitor his concrete actions (or lack thereof) and if need be, will go back to its members again.”

Do we think Campinos will change course? Not really. But one can hope. He's a master manipulator. ⬆