European Patent Office Strikes Intensify Tomorrow, Huge Strikes Planned for June, 10,000 Strike Participations Registered

posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 31, 2026

Campinos may well be ousted soon

2 days ago: Very Large Strike at the European Patent Office Today, "Production" Sank a Huge Deal

7 days ago: Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) Meets "Alicante Mafia" at the European Patent Office (EPO)

The SUEPO TH committee, where SUEPO is an acronym for Staff Union the European Patent Office (EPO) and TH is The Hague, is planning strikes for next month. The overall "alta vista" looks something like this:

Strikes like these have an enormous impact on the "bottom line" of the Office and a new publication shares some of the key figures:

INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT
STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETS

Ortssektion Den Haag
Local section The Hague
Section locale La Haye

26 May 2026
su260018hp

Recommended Strike Anchor Days in June

What you can do to support the industrial actions

Dear members, dear colleagues,

First of all thank you for supporting the industrial actions! The production counter is down more than 10k products and more than 10k strike participations have been registered at the time of writing. Our decision makers have reacted by organizing some (rather unconvincing) 30 min. Q&A sessions on the Salary Adjustment Procedure/Method (SAP/SAM) with VP4, applying extra production pressure, reshuffling examining divisions and suddenly prioritizing direct grants. It is disappointing to see management doing everything in their power to dampen the effect of the industrial actions without addressing their root causes: our proposal to resolve the labour dispute remains unanswered at the time of writing. On the other hand, it shows that our collective action is having an effect, and that our disruption needs to be maintained.

We therefore call all staff to keep supporting the industrial actions by:

- Striking on any day of the week¹,

- Striking on the following new recommended “anchor days”², close to meetings with the Administration:

o Monday 8 June (Administrative Council deadline for submissions: 12 June),

o Friday 26 June (Administrative Council: June 29-30),

- Continuing work-to-rule: work thoroughly, avoid rushing or working longer than your contracted hours, refrain from voluntary projects (pilot projects, extra tasks,…), take leave appropriate to your personal situation (sick leave, special

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¹ Recommended number of days: 23 days in the period of 30 March until end of June. This is equivalent to the number of strike days planned in Munich on fixed days of Monday and Friday. 23 days might seem like a lot, and we wish to remind you that we have lost the equivalent of 100 days of strike per employee since the present SAP was introduced in 2020.

² The purposes of these recommended anchor days are to foster solidarity and the feeling of collective action, and remind the Administration of the magnitude of staff unrest. Please note that these days are included within the total number of strike days, they are not to be regarded as the only days on which we will take action.

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leave,…), complete trainings, participate in professional development and strengthen collaboration within teams, do not overshoot any of your targets, be it production or productivity;

- Not undertaking compensation work to cover work lost during strike days or work to rule action;

- Informing your colleagues if you have been asked to take over the work they could not carry out due to being on industrial action and questioning the managerial decision to hand over this work;

- Discussing the effects of the proposed cuts³ with your colleagues and, if possible, encourage them to join the industrial actions;

- Speaking out in meetings with management;

- Putting on a background on your MSTEAMS / out of office message / MSTEAMS status supporting the actions;

- Attending meetings with your staff and union representatives

- Joining SUEPO or encouraging colleagues to do so, remembering that union membership is confidential and not known to the employer if not disclosed by the employee

Please note the guide to production pressure at a time of industrial actions, and do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.

For a workplace worthy of its talent.

Kind regards,
Your SUEPO TH committee, M18B10 and De Bruyn Kopsstraat, 15, Rijswijk

16-18 June: Staff Committee elections – cast all your 16 votes for the SUEPO team!

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³ See also slides of the Staff General Meetings on the topic: 26 January, 12 February, 10 March.

The management scored an own goal. Over at the main "branch" (or site) of the EPO, the union (SUEPO Munich) sent out "Invitation to General Assembly on Monday 8 June" (8 days from now). To quote:

SUEPO Munich Action Plan for 2026

Dear SUEPO members,
Dear Colleagues,

Mr Campinos maintains his proposal for a new salary adjustment procedure eroding the salaries, pensions and benefits of EPO staff.

The delegates in the Budget and Finance Committee meeting of 20 and 21 May gave a positive opinion on the proposal in preparation of the Administrative Council meeting of 30 June and 1 July.

Later this year, the Administrative Council will meet on 13 and 14 October to decide on the re-election of Mr Campinos for a third mandate. The new salary erosion procedure is part of his strategy to obtain the necessary support from the delegates.

Therefore, SUEPO Munich invites to a General Assembly on Monday 8 June, at 14.00 hrs to be held via MS Teams.

Agenda:

• Feedback from the Budget and Finance Committee

• Presentation of ballot on the continuation/intensification of the Action Plan 2026

• AOB

Campinos may well be ousted soon. We have enough material about Campinos and his cocaine family (the term "brother-in-law" comes from him) to cover scandals until next year. █