Bonum Certa Men Certa

Union Syndicale Fédérale: Apparently ILO Considered Kicking Out the EPO for Repeatedly Refusing and Failing to Obey the Law

USF (Union Syndicale Fédérale) also alludes to suspected corruption at the EPO, citing the latest from German media

Mafia Battistelli



Summary: Pan-European unions-syndicating entities (not just USF) keep expressing extremely big concerns about the affairs of the EPO, where Battistelli not only attacks the unions but also breaks the law without any consequences for these actions

THE STAFF UNION of the EPO (SUEPO) has just highlighted this "Press communication from USF (Union Syndicale Fédérale)," which wrote a great deal about union-busting assaults from Battistelli for a number of years (it has already been in touch with Campinos and it repeatedly berated the yellow union that helps Battistelli and Bergot with their union-busting and defamation campaign against SUEPO). The new post (dated yesterday) reads like a press release, so we've decided to reproduce it with some highlights. It's titled "EPO’s acts were not only flawed but seriously flawed" and in yellow below are important bits:



AT ITS 126th SESSION THE ILOAT SETS ASIDE THE DISCIPLINARY MEASURES WHICH EPO PRESIDENT BATTISTELLI INFLICTED ON THREE UNION REPRESENTATIVES

Union Syndicale Fédérale is relieved and delighted about the results of the 126th Session of the ILOAT. A number of EPO colleagues, arbitrarily downgraded or even dismissed won their cases again. Instead of damages, ILOAT ordered reinstatement in the dismissal cases, an indication that the EPO’s acts were not only flawed but seriously flawed.

As the outgoing President of the EPO, Mr. Battistelli, praises his brilliant contribution to the EPO’s alleged success over the last eight years, the 126th ILOAT session results are a further powerful indicator of Mr. Battistelli’s disastrous, not sustainable management of the EPO.

The 126th ILOAT session coincides with serious doubts expressed by a number of external actors of the Intellectual Property world on the sustainability of Mr Battistelli€´s policy, especially on excessive production targets that put a threat on the required high level of quality of the patents granted. The petition signed by 900 EPO examiners on the same issue was quoted.

This week’s German “Wirtschaftswoche”, a leading magazine for economics, comes with a harsh criticism of Mr Battistelli’s policies, the general lack of search for consensus, the use of public funds outside public scrutiny, his autocratic style.

Over the last few years, the ILO Governing Board’s requests to Mr Battistelli seem to have been flatly ignored. The ILO Governing Board also launched a consultation process amongst the more than 60 member organisations which rely on the ILOAT as an internal jurisdiction, aiming at creating a procedure allowing the termination of the cooperation with organisations which do not anymore meet the initial commitment. In other words, an organisation that does not behave anymore as an international public service organisation will have to seek other jurisdiction. Such an initiative is unheard of in the ILOAT’s 90 years of service. Such a termination imposed by the ILO would trigger an institutional crisis of the international organisation concerned, dramatic for both staff and organisation.

In the light of the ILOAT 126th session’s results and all other abundantly available evidence, it is not exaggerated to claim that Mr Battistelli leaves the EPO to his successor as a uniquely messy construction site, whatever the production figures. A thorough analysis will have to be run jointly by the new President of the EPO and the EPO staff representatives, to take stock on the damage done as a first step.

USF wishes to warmly congratulate all claimants who obtained a decision at the historical 126th session of the ILOAT and also the supporting branches of SUEPO. Under extreme adverse conditions, solidarity and the impressive resilience of the claimants and union officials allowed to re-establish a minimum level of rule of law fundamentals.

Complaints allowed: Judgments 4052, 4047, 4043, 4042, 4051


Firms like Control Risks participated in likely illegal activities on the payroll of an institution that likely engages in corruption. But Control Risks is used to working with military and private companies, not international institutions that are placed above the law. What a catastrophe. What an utter mess. It's slowly killing people. Anyone who participates in Team Battistelli is complicit and time will tell where things will go.

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