Elections

Brave new world at the Commission: the day the staff representation was abolished

Elections, Newsletter - 2021-12-16, Social Dialogue Print This Post

I wake up and it is just another ordinary day. I prepare breakfast and get my child ready. Then head to the crèche before going to the office.

But to my great surprise, the crèche is closed. Nobody seems to be around. When I finally spot someone I know, I ask what is going on. Maybe a strike? “Not really. Weren’t you informed? This service is not provided any more to Commission staff. You need to find a place in a local crèche. And considering how crowded they are, good luck!” Continue reading Brave new world at the Commission: the day the staff representation was abolished →

Promising and selling unicorns

Brussels, Elections, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-12-02, OSPs, Outside the Union, Petition, Petten, Promotions, reclassification, Social Dialogue, Staff Categories, Working conditions Print This Post

*This article was published in November 2021 in response to promises made during Brussels, Karlsruhe and Ispra elections. Here are the Karlsruhe 2021 results.*

On allowances to cover the additional costs of teleworking and other promises

It is election time for many sites of the Commission and there are two unmistakable signs for this:

  • Your inbox is filling with largely indistinguishable e-mails asking to vote for union X or union Y, because they have done SO MUCH for you in the last year (although for some of them, you cannot remember ever having seen any action or results).
  • The e-mails contain a hodgepodge of measures that they are demanding, often defying any sense of reality: unicorns, rainbows, a guaranteed lottery win … 

Continue reading Promising and selling unicorns →

Wake-up call for the administration – Voter apathy and low voter turnout

Brussels, Elections, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-12-02, Outside the Union, Petten Print This Post

The local staff committee (LSC) elections for outside the Union, Ispra/Seville and Brussels have all had to be extended (see below).

For outside the Union the issues raised are long standing. Continue reading Wake-up call for the administration – Voter apathy and low voter turnout →

Meeting on Buildings, restaurants, cafeterias & return to the office

Elections, Events Print This Post

We are living in crucial times, when we see our working conditions radically changing for the worse without the proper involvement of staff and their representatives.

This concerns in particular the ongoing move to hot-desking for thousands of staff during a pandemic that is now reaching its fourth wave. And the closure of most canteens and cafeterias, many of which will not reopen, according to the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB) plans. Continue reading Meeting on Buildings, restaurants, cafeterias & return to the office →

How should Teleworking evolve in Delegations after Covid?

EEAS, Elections, Outside the Union, return to the office-new normal, Teleworking Print This Post

Many of you wonder, since there is no legal basis for teleworking in Delegations, what will happen when the pandemic is over?

Will we still have Teleworking in Delegations?

Will we finally follow the rest of the Commission: teleworking has already been in force in Headquarters and other EU sites for more than 10 years! Continue reading How should Teleworking evolve in Delegations after Covid? →

Correction of function group for Local Agents in Delegations – We need an action plan!

Elections, Local Agents, Working conditions Print This Post

Stories on the ground

Story 1  LA Function Group IV recruited as  section secretary.  Later on the job task of the DMO (document managing officer) is added to the job description and this has been the situation for more than 2 years.  Management refused to discuss changing the post to Group III. Continue reading Correction of function group for Local Agents in Delegations – We need an action plan! →

2025 where are we now?

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-10-12, Outside the Union, Petten Print This Post

Commission-wide, Generation 2004 has 33% of the vote as of June 2024. Some context: there are eight ‘local’ staff committees (LSCs) and one additional non-LSC staff committee which we mention in the table below.

The 8 LSCs are sometimes called ‘sections’ since all together they contribute to the Commission-wide Central Staff Committee (CSC): Brussels, France, Geel, Karlsruhe, Luxembourg, Outside the Union (CLP-HU) and Ispra and Seville (yes, a shared LSC). Continue reading 2025 where are we now? →

Thanks to your support, fairer and more transparent election rules adopted!

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter - 2021-10-08, Newsletter - 2021-10-12 Print This Post

Thanks to your overwhelming support, the Generation 2004 proposals which aimed at ensuring fairer and more-transparent staff representation elections were adopted with 90% in favour during the Brussels and Commission Representations in the EU staff general assembly (24.09.2021).

Why we needed change Continue reading Thanks to your support, fairer and more transparent election rules adopted! →