The Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) at the EPO Explains the Working Conditions and Crisis of Plunder (Less for Workers, a Lot More for Dictators Who Refuse to Leave Leadership Roles)
Private company or patent office for Europe?
SUEPO TH (The Hague) and the Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) very well understand that without industrial actions the EPO will become slop, American companies, dictators who ban critics (and who bribe the press while doing cocaine in the open), systematic plunder, and fake elections where the elected bribe the voters (to vote for them). This is almost worse than anything we've been reading about Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. We're means to blindly believe in some reformed giant (with "unity") while the so-called 'Russian Federation' is just Moscow and its nationwide 'meat grinder' (sourcing meat or cannon fodder from every oblast).
Earlier this week the LSCTH circulated the following (similar to Munich's from the same time, but still mostly unique):
Report on the General Assembly of 17 September 2026
Update on the ongoing industrial actions around the SAP
Dear colleagues,
On 17 September, the Local Staff Committee The Hague presented an update on the ongoing industrial actions concerning the new Salary Adjustment Procedure (SAP 2027–2032), the outlook for the coming months and advice on productivity measures.
See the slides for further details
Why continue the industrial actions?
Staff productivity has increased substantially over the last years, while the Office expects a record surplus of €750m in 2026. Nevertheless, management proposes salary cuts, higher pension contributions and has not responded to SUEPO’s SAP proposal.
Staff are therefore asking for salaries that maintain purchasing power, a legal adjustment method and fairer employment conditions. Collective action remains necessary to ensure that staff have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting them and the future of the Office.
Coming months
Strike anchor days: last two working Fridays of every month;
Work-to-rule continues, particularly around the Administrative Council meetings
Minimum effort requested: not a single product more than in 2025
Please support the industrial actions and encourage solidarity among colleagues
A strike day costs roughly 0.3% of annual salary. Litigation and collective action are complementary: both remain necessary to defend our employment conditions.
Here are the above-mentioned slides:
