Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Non-dialogue: “Staff Representatives Were Intimidated, Persecuted, or Both.” How the EPO Under António Campinos Succumbed to Battistelli Monarchy, Leading to Unrest, Strikes

Part 2 of 3 (see part 1)

The police squad



London protestsSummary: "The President [António Campinos] is the main interlocutor for social dialogue," explained EPO staff representatives. "Having a first meeting only after 5 month from the start of the year, however, is not really fostering social dialogue." They explained that EPO management resorted to aggression and force (at least verbal) within just months of the supposedly 'nice' new President taking Office.

THE STAFF of the EPO took only months to be convinced that another Benoît Battistelli had been put in charge of governing the institution. Here's a letter sent to him after less than 11 months at the Office:



Reference: sc19075cl-0.3.1/1.3.1 Date: 29.05.2019

Mr António Campinos President of the EPO

ISAR - R.1081

OPEN LETTER

Agenda for our meeting on 03 June 2019

Dear Mr President,

The Central Staff Committee (CSC) thanks you for your invitation to meet on 3 June and for suggesting some points for the agenda.

The CSC is very concerned about the latest developments at the EPO, especially concerning the current level of unrest due to continuing anti-staff policies, as well as the lack of improvement in social dialogue. This is also reflected in the recent call for strike. Issues raised therein have been high on the agenda of the CSC for some time and therefore, we propose to first explore with you which actions we believe could either resolve some issues and/or at least reassure staff on your intentions.

In addition, we are extremely worried by an email we just received from a staff representative on which you were copied. We are recognising methods of an era we thought bygone, when staff representatives were intimidated, persecuted, or both. This is extremely disturbing.

If time still allows, we would of course also like to address the agenda points, as raised by you, i.e.:

- Follow up on the staff survey (including your letter dated 10.4.2019) - Strategic Plan - Status of the Working Groups (Resources & Communication, Adjustments to the Performance Management and Procedure for Incompetence)




On the staff survey, we look forward to seeing how we will be involved in the next steps, and to receiving the requested aggregated data.

On the strategic plan, we are convinced that it needs to reflect the staff survey results – and a focus on quality and on staff should be given through a review of some past reforms. We refer to our input and the need to present a timetable enabling to re-establish quickly staff confidence in management.

On the status of the two working groups, we look forward to seeing their mandates clarified (if needed) and some progress booked.

Yours sincerely,

Joachim Michels Chairman of the Central Staff Committee



The message to staff was similar to the open letter (slight variation and additions, especially the first paragraph, left out from the letter for diplomatic reasons):

President meets CSC on 3 June



Agenda items for discussion and worrying developments in treating staff representatives

Dear colleagues,

The CSC appreciates the invitation by the President to meet on 3 June. The President is the main interlocutor for social dialogue. Having a first meeting only after 5 month from the start of the year, however, is not really fostering social dialogue.

The CSC is very concerned about the latest developments at the EPO, especially concerning the current level of unrest due to continuing anti-staff policies, as well as the lack of improvement in social dialogue. This is also reflected in the recent call for strike. Issues raised therein have been high on the agenda of the CSC for some time and therefore, we propose to first explore with the President which actions we believe could either resolve some issues and/or at least reassure staff on his intentions.

In addition, we are extremely worried by an email we just received from a staff representative on which you were copied. We are recognising methods of an era we thought bygone, when staff representatives were intimidated, persecuted, or both. Further agenda points amongst others will be: ● Follow up on the staff survey (including your letter dated 10.4.2019) ● Strategic Plan ● Status of the Working Groups (Resources & Communication, Adjustments to the Performance Management and Procedure for Incompetence)


Staff representatives of the EPO would later suggest going on strike, as we noted last year and again a few days ago.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Cindy Cohn (Executive Director of EFF) is a Millionaire, Earned Almost $30,000 Per Month Before Departing While the EFF Lost Money
EFF is "Big Business"
Microsoft XBox is Dying as More Retailers Stop Stocking It and Massive Layoffs Planned Again
Microsoft is circling down the drain
 
Fake Economics and Clown Computing Circuses
who's gonna pay for these scams?
Nobel Prize in Economics Does Not Exist, It's Propaganda From Sveriges Riksbank
"It is that time of the year when it is important to remind people that there are no Nobel Prizes for professional wrestling, astrology, or economics"
Rust is Eating Linux
That's a recipe for problems
Non-Denying Denial From Microsoft (Again) Regarding the End of XBox Consoles
It's kind of hilarious that even the site chosen by Microsoft to relay its BS, based on past loyalty, isn't quite buying it
Bringing Back Lost Articles From the 1990s: Microsoft Products Leave Door Open to NSA
Nothing has changed since then
When the Slop Bubble Pops People Will Say Richard Stallman Was Right (Again)
What was once known as Computer Science turned into "IT"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 05, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 05, 2025
Links 06/10/2025: Science, Hardware, and Andrej Babis Making a Comeback
Links for the day
Links 05/10/2025: Slow News Day and Wondering About the Canada Post Walkout
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/10/2025: Telnet Debugging and The Programmer’s Brain
Links for the day
More Than "Just a Rumour": XBox Seems to Have Just Died
At this point, why would any studio out there target or partner with XBox?
How to Tell Your Community, Project or Company is Being Infiltrated by Saboteurs
How to identify nefarious social engineering
The Fortieth Birthday of the FSF Made Us Extremely Happy
It feels like the 'hacker community' is regrouping to discuss things and prepare for the next Big Challenge
Chat Control 2 Them, Not 2 U
Follow the advice of Dr. Patrick Breyer
Mozilla: Throw Away Your "Old" PC and Enable "Digital Rights Management (DRM)"
This is heading in a bad direction
Controlling Our Computing for Another Forty Years
40 years of freedom
Motivational Small Place to Run Large Sites
We deem this scenery motivational and inspiring
Techrights' Text Version (Daily Bulletin) Turns Five This Month
our plain-text bulletins are turning 5 this month
We'll Continue Covering the Moribund OSI and Other Dysfunctional if Not Hostile Institutions
Stefano Maffulli's departure is due to his defection and due to him failing the mission in pursuit of money (his salary)
Links 05/10/2025: Lufthansa Layoffs (4,000) and More Spotify Woes (Aside From Massive Debt)
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation's Livestream Has Ended, Video/s Might be Online Next
I've asked whether they'll upload video of some of the event; I still wait for an answer
The Register MS Does Not Know the Difference Between Microsoft GitHub and GitLab
At the time of writing (October 5) the article from "Thu 2 Oct 2025" remains uncorrected
Linux and the Freedom Paradox
Linux is losing freedom if some external actors who only use Microsoft tools for development wrest control
"Bullshit Generators" (What RMS Calls LLMs) and Fake Images Already Target the FSF
Why does Google News promote fake articles about the FSF while omitting all the real ones?
Software Patents as a Bubble
Don't invest resources in hype; if you detect a bubble, run away from it
Links 05/10/2025: Political Leftovers, Climate Change, and Security Incidents
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 04, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 04, 2025
Watch the FSF Party Live (via Livestream)
It's in WebM format, which is widely supported by now
Advocacy of Software Freedom Changed, LUGs Became Less Relevant
The way we see it, support groups like LUGs sort of outlived their usefulness when it became easier to install GNU/Linux
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims or says can be trusted
When Microsoft "Integrates" Something With "AI" It Means It's Losing Money and Is Generally Hopeless
how did Bing fare after 36 months of LLM slop being hyped up as "replacement" for search?
Most Certificates Don't Improve Security, They Mostly Increase Downtime (for No Good Reason)
The 'Gemini sites' (capsules) are a growing force
The statCounter Site Has Data Integrity Problems
Maybe we'll get back to statCounter when its data becomes more "stable" again
10 Ways to Combat Software Patents
software patents are loathed also by proprietary software developers
"Just a Little Bit of Meat..."
Free software "absolutism" is not a radical stance, more so if the only "radical" belief the user possesses is that he or she must be in control of his or her software, and by extension his or her computer
Compromised by NVIDIA Proprietary Library
Meanwhile in Boston there are "[r]oundtable talk with FSF volunteers (both in-person and online)"
Red Hat is Ignoring the Free Software Community, It's a "Fortune 1000" Vendor
Red Hat's blog also participates a lot in promoting of Wall Street's latest pump-and-dump "AI" scheme
Free Software Foundation Party Has Begun
We shall be focusing a lot on software patents today
Former Head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan Knows Whatever Microsoft Touches Will Die
Just like Skype (as recently as months ago) [...] When Microsoft grabs things, or when it buys things, it almost never ends well
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About LibreOffice in Austria and Wine 10.16
very short
Links 04/10/2025: "attempted Coup" Noted in Facebook, Russia Kills Journalists via Drones
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Anesthesia and Baudpunk
Links for the day
How Software Patents Were Viewed or Their General Status Changed Over Time
A rough summary
Links 04/10/2025: "Privacy Harm Is Harm", Criticism Outlawed in US
Links for the day
Garmin Uses Linux for Some of the Garmin Products, Now It's Sued by Strava Using Software Patents
Software patents should never have been granted in the first place
Richard Stallman Will Give a Talk in Sweden in 6 Days
Dr. Stallman, despite his battle with cancer is still alive and mentally sharp
FSF Turns 40
We'll be focusing on patent-related topics this weekend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 03, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 03, 2025
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Distro Hopping and "Part Time"
Links for the day