The "Alicante Mafia" - Part III - Europe's Second-Largest Organisation on Strike, Protests, Other Industrial Actions to Come Impacting Over 95% of the Workforce
This new series will focus on thugs and corrupt officials that run the EPO and sometimes do illegal drugs or try to hide those drugs. It turns out that the major sites of the EPO will both engage in industrial actions. SUEPO Vienna's representation (and SUEPO Berlin's also) might say something later, but this is the communication from The Hague:
INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT
STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETSOrtssektion Den Haag
Local section The Hague
Section locale La Haye16 January 2026
su26002hpSave the date: Tuesday 27 January 2026, 11.00 hrs
Online Extraordinary General Meeting on Action PlanDear members, dear colleagues
We thank all SUEPO members in The Hague who took part in the ballot held at the end of 2025. Based on the results, SUEPO TH received the mandate from its active members to prepare an action plan to stop the salary erosion of EPO staff. We have analysed the comments, which show a preference for a combination of Strikes and Work-To-Rule / Go-Slow actions.
Meanwhile, the first documents on the Salary Adjustment Procedure (SAP) planned for 2027-2032 have been circulated: the Office’s new proposal makes even more cuts to the remuneration elements of staff than the method currently in place (see also here). Since 2020, we have already lost ca. 1% per year compared to national Dutch inflation (for more details, see here), and unless we act now, this will continue and potentially even worsen. The long-term impact of such erosion is devastating.
Therefore, SUEPO TH has prepared a Draft Action Plan 2026 (see also ANNEX below) in coordination with SUEPO Munich and SUEPO Berlin. The timeline of the action plan is closely linked to the decision-making timeline of the Office on the SAP 2027-2032 and to the fact that the Office and Administrative Council are particularly sensitive to a dip in revenue in Q1 and Q2.
The Draft Action Plan 2026 needs to be adopted by SUEPO members1. We therefore invite you to an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss and vote on it on Tuesday 27 January at 11.00 hrs on SUEPO MS Teams. The ics calendar invitation including the link to the meeting will be sent to all active SUEPO TH members by email shortly.
If you cannot attend the meeting, please send your proxy to hague@suepo.org by Monday 26 January, 16.00 hrs. And do not hesitate to send your questions to hague@suepo.org.
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1 Relevant Articles in the statutes: Art. 10.2, 11.2 and 12.1.
Provisional agenda of the meeting:
1. Recap on SAP
2. Reasons for the Call for Action
3. Demands to the Administration
4. Draft Action Plan 2026
5. Discussion
6. Vote on Draft Action Plan 2026
Kind regards,
Your SUEPO TH committee – M18B10 and De Bruyn Kopsstraat, 15, Rijswijk
[...]
ANNEX: Please note that in Judgment 4430 (of 2021) the Tribunal restored the right at the EPO to all industrial actions in the Action Plan 2026, highlighting them as a tool employees have to redress the imbalance of power between them and their employer. The dates and actions have been tailored to have a high impact.
Strikes: 30 January, 23 February & 19 March
If the consultation on the new salary adjustment procedure is not fruitful, SUEPO The Hague calls for warning strikes on Friday 30 January, Monday 23 February and 19 March around the meetings with the Administration concerning the new salary adjustment procedure for 2027-2032.
Days of strike are individually counted as 1/30th for the purpose of salary deductions (Judgment 4435, consideration 14).
Work-To-Rule: “Dry winter” - No grants
Starting from 2 February, SUEPO The Hague calls for Work-To-Rule actions consisting in avoiding overtime, focusing on search and ensuring the best quality by
applying thoroughly the EPC, case law and internal instructions in the whole patent granting process, objecting to reshuffling of Divisions and redistribution of your stock and requesting a written confirmation if it happens. The Administrative Council delegations are particularly sensitive to the number of patents granted for which they receive a share of the renewal fees.
High frequency strike as of April
If the orientations adopted in the March Council meeting put again the EPO at the lowest end of the benchmark among International Organisation in terms of salary adjustments, SUEPO The Hague calls for 2 days of strike per week until end of June.
There is a lot to complain about other than the salary. But, regardless, now is a good time to take action. The EPO's management is highly evasive, weak, and vulnerable. It can be toppled in a matter of months and it knows it. █