Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Crisis Under António Campinos - Part 4: Timeline of the Le Guern Controversy

Previously in this series: Part I | Part II | Part III



SUEPO smeared



--António Campinos announces an "embargo" on meetings with SUEPO (the EPO's union)



Summary: Last week's events culminated in defence by Campinos of Team Battistelli, notably Madame Bergot, by shaming the staff's union with vague details, obscured sufficiently to make it seem as if the union did something wrong (it was actually Bergot et al who had done something wrong)

We continue our report on the controversy triggered by the sudden and mysterious "disappearance" of the EPO's "Compensations and Benefits" expert Le Guern with a review of the associated timeline of events.



The saga commenced with the publication of a communiqué on 4 February from the EPO staff union SUEPO to its members which reported on Le Guern's sudden and unexplained absence from official duties since 6 November 2020.

"On 14 February the Chairman of SUEPO Central responded to Campinos by expressing surprise at the tone of his letter and the assertion that red lines had been crossed."On 10 February EPO President Campinos fired off an angry letter to SUEPO in which he complained that the communiqué of 4 February had "crossed red lines" by allegedly questioning "the ethics and integrity of one of our colleagues".

According to Campinos SUEPO had implied "by insinuation" that the EPO management was responsible for "the colleague's situation".

Campinos called this "an attack on the reputation of the entire organisation, its professionalism and its values".

On 14 February the Chairman of SUEPO Central responded to Campinos by expressing surprise at the tone of his letter and the assertion that red lines had been crossed.

SUEPO was unable to find any passage in its communiqué which could be considered factually incorrect or which would go beyond the acceptable limits of freedom of speech and the freedom of association.

MoU signed by BergotIn order to clarify the situation, SUEPO asked Campinos to indicate the particular passages in its Communiqué which had given rise to his concerns.

SUEPO concluded by noting that it was ready for an open dialogue on this issue as soon as possible and at the latest in the meeting with EPO management scheduled for 24 February.

In the meantime the chairman of the elected Central Staff Committee had written to Campinos on 12 February to express concern about a disruption of "social dialogue" caused by the EPO management's "serial cancellations of meetings". The Central Staff Committee wanted to inquire about "the real reasons for these serial cancellations" and noted that it was "still very interested in social dialogue and in rescheduling the meetings as soon as possible".

On 16 February Campinos responded by using the EPO Intranet to publicise the dispute.

He published a message cryptically entitled "Supporting our colleagues" together with details of the exchanges which had taken place between his office and EPO staff representatives.

The published correspondence included copies of letters dated 16 February and addressed both to SUEPO and to the elected Central Staff Committee.

In the letter of 16 February addressed to SUEPO Campinos repeated his call for a retraction of the communiqué of 4 February and an unconditional apology because SUEPO had allegedly "crossed a number of red lines in attacking the professionalism and reputation of our mutual colleagues and also the reputation of the Office".

Elodie Bergot's faceHe deplored the fact "that there has been no visible or meaningful attempt to retract the statement, or apologise to the colleagues concerned".

Campinos concluded by noting he had decreed "a period of three months from 16 February during which all social dialogue with SUEPO will be carried out by written exchange only".

"The Office will therefore not be fielding representatives to meet with SUEPO either in person or online during this period. At the end of the three months the decision will be reviewed."

In the parallel letter of the same date addressed to the elected CSC, Campinos repeated his criticisms of SUEPO.

He notified the CSC of the "embargo" imposed on face-to-face meetings between SUEPO EPO management and concluded with the following pious platitude:

"Despite the recent choice made by SUEPO to breach our values, and to attack colleagues – whether overtly or by insinuation - it is our genuine hope that the dialogue with the CSC, and indeed all Staff Representatives, will remain increasingly constructive."

In the next and final part of this EPOLeaks report we will consider the potential fallout from this ongoing controversy.

Elodie Bergot's slide



Recent Techrights' Posts

IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 07, 2023
IRC logs for Thursday, December 07, 2023
[Video] The Media Facilitates Microsoft's Abuse, Bribes, and Growing Threats to National Security
The failure of the media to properly and independently explain what's happening will continue to doom the media
[Video] The Next Ten Years of Techrights in a World With Changing Threats and Technological Landscapes (or Trends That Are Buzzwords/Cargo Cults)
The video of today talks about the site's (and capsule's plan) for the future
Wikipedia is Vandalism, Brought to You by Microsoft and Bill Gates
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Lennart Poettering and Fellow Microsofters Turn GNU/Linux Into Windows, Expect Poor Reliability With systemd-bsod
turning Linux into Microsoft Windows
The Effort to Silence (Squash) GNU/Linux Advocates and Press Coverage
If nobody even mentions it anymore, does it still exist?
Links 07/12/2023: Climate Events Occupied by Their Enemy, Workers Going on Strike
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 06, 2023
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 06, 2023
A Googlebombing Campaign Targeting "Gemini" Takes on E-mail, Too
Google can do Googlebombing too (the term is even named after it)
[Video] Microsoft Without a So-called 'Common Carrier' (Windows Monoculture)
Windows Has Fallen
[Video] To Combat Efforts to Cancel or Kill the Career (and Reputation) of the People Who Made GNU/Linux We Must Rally the Community
nobody speaks better for projects and for licences than their own founders
Rumour: Major Finance Layoffs at Microsoft Next Week
If the rumour is true, we'll be hearing barely anything from the mainstream media next week
Links 07/12/2023: More EPO Patents Squashed, More Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine "Glitches" Found
Links for the day
Still Not 'Canceled'
Ted Ts'o, Jan Kara, Linus Torvalds last month
Google is Googlebombing the Term "Gemini"
Could Google not pick a name that's already "taken"?
Links 06/12/2023: Bitcoin Rebound, China Downgraded by American Firm, Yahoo! Layoffs Again
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Shooting the Messenger Using Bribes and Secrecy Bonds
We seem to live in a world where accountability for the rich and well-connected barely exists anymore
The Myth of an Aging (or Dying) GNU/Linux Leadership
Self-fulfilling prophecies as a tactic?
Links 06/12/2023: Many More December Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 05, 2023
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 05, 2023
PipeWire 1.0: Linux audio comes of age
Once upon a time, serious audio users like musicians and audio engineers had real trouble with Linux
This is How 'Linux' Foundation Presents Linux to the World
Right now it even picks Windows over Linux in some cases