So, how well do the trade union and staff association (OSP) names match the names used on the election ballot papers and the counting of votes?  The answer is that they often do not correspond particularly well and sometimes  do not correspond at all. Sometimes the names may look familiar but not quite be the same entity. This is an issue for transparency.  There are also several groupings and regroupings of OSPs, making it a little bit more challenging to know who is who. So the ballot-paper list names might not match any known OSPs or previously known grouping of OSPs and the votes cast might not be attributed to the OSPs named equally.

Check out that the pre-electoral agreements made for each local staff committee election  to see how groupings of OSPs agree to distribute votes and see how opaque this can sometimes be.

Take, for example:

• 2022 Luxembourg LSC elections:
  • List 1 ‘Ensemble pour Luxembourg’ (also seen as ‘Luxembourg United’) is not the same as the 2019 List 3 ‘Ensemble Luxembourg. This 2022 version is Union syndicale fédérale Luxembourg (USF-L) alone. There were 6 entities which ran together as  Ensemble Luxembourg in 2019: USF-L plus another 5: FFPE, R&D, SE, TAO-AFI and U4U-RS.
  • List 4 ‘USL reinforced by the Independents’ is a grouping of 2 OSPs: Union syndicale Luxembourg (USL) [*] and TAO-The Independents (see their pre-electoral agreement). TAO is not listed in Human Resources in 2020 nor does it appear in this form on the list of OSP  websites: MyIntracomm, Staff Matters, Trade Unions and Staff Associations (OSPs), ‘related information>see also’, where an Association des fonctionnaires indépendants pour la défense de la fonction publique européenne (TAO-AFI)​ is listed.

• Ispra/Seville ballot paper 2021:
  • list 2: this entity is not mentioned in the 2020 HR report, has no website and HR was unable to provide one. This entity has given its votes to another OSP since 2015 (renewed in 2018 and 2021 and again in 2024).
  • list 5: this appears to be two OSPs but they have agreed for all votes to be allocated to one of the two.
  • list 7: appears to be a collaboration among 3 entities but the votes were to be split between 2 of the 3.

• 2019 Luxembourg LSC elections :
  • List 3 ‘Ensemble Luxembourg ‘ is first seen in these elections. From the electoral agreement it can be seen that this is a grouping of 6 other entities. The last of those entities is not listed in Human Resources in 2020  nor does it appear on the list of OSP  websites: MyIntracomm, Staff Matters, Trade Unions and Staff Associations (OSPs), ‘related information>see also’. It is unclear whether this is a new grouping or a new entity. All 6 entities already belong to other groupings (see above) resulting in situations like this one. There is no corresponding website or published information.

If there’s an OSP or list on an election ballot paper with no information available get in touch with HR and ask about it: know what you’re being asked to vote on, know who represents you and know who you can get in touch with to ask for help!

If you have any questions or you’d like to get involved, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!