Since Monday, you can see in Sysper whether you have been proposed for promotion this year or not.
We congratulate the colleagues proposed for promotion!
The promotion meetings between the Directors General and the staff representatives took place between 14 May – 8 June. In more than 40 meetings we took care of the interests of the post-2004 staff. From our experience and feedbacks we reached some conclusions: Continue reading Promotion exercise 2018
DGT is at the moment in an unprecedented situation. During the past couple of months colleagues worked countless evening and weekend hours. Many staff members have significantly exceeded the 20-hour flexitime limit that gets transferred to the next month. This goes on top of other recurrent ‘urgencies’ now becoming more and more a routine. Management does not sign summer holidays, thus obliging staff, especially those with children, to higher expenses for last minute bookings. Similarly recuperations are made difficult or impossible by certain line managers. Even with the extra hours, DGT colleagues report that they are not able to do a decent professional job anymore since they don’t have time to do proper quality controls. They cannot revise internal translations anymore nor most external translations. Besides a strong demotivating effect (no one likes being forced to do work of sub-standard quality), this is a legal time-bomb. Continue reading DGT is facing an exceptionally high workload: gloomy perspectives for the future
A few days ago, DG HR announced on IntraComm the launch of the Junior Professional Programme (link here) in spite of a mixed opinion expressed by the Commission Paritaire Interne de la Commission Europeenne (COPAR). DG HR has been discussing the programme – planned to start already March 2017(!) – with resource directors and staff representatives since the beginning of 2017. Generation 2004 has been rejecting the proposal as it is discriminatory and not transparent. Continue reading Junior Professionals Pilot Programme 2018 – A new idea of DG HR sold for talent management!
In the recent elections, Generation 2004 won four seats (out of 21) on the Ispra/Seville Local Staff Committee (LSC), which means a doubling of the number of seats, compared to the last elections. The list votes cast for Generation 2004 increased from 8.5 % to 12.3 % and the preferential votes from 9.2 % to 22.5 %. This is, overall, an excellent result considering that we faced a number of obstacles during the electoral process, including a sudden re-interpretation of the rules on supplementary candidate nominations, leading to the rejection of seven Generation 2004 candidates by the Electoral Bureau (EB), even though those candidates were nominated following the EB’s initial instructions. A particular difficulty of these elections was the timing.
Just because DG HR demanded to have the LSC elections still in May, bluntly neglecting the well-reasoned decisions of the General Assembly of Ispra/Seville staff to have it at a later time, the polling period fell during the Pentecost holidays. This led to the electoral campaign being rather short and the quorum (two thirds of staff) being met only on the very last day of the extended (!) electoral period. Continue reading Generation 2004 doubles number of seats in Ispra/Seville LSC Elections
Several major staff elections have been scheduled for 2018: in Ispra/Seville, Brussels and in the EU Delegations (outside the EU).
Generation 2004 actively tried to hold these elections together with the Brussels elections and also to give some time to DG HR to modify the rules governing the staff representation so that the elections take place at the same time under the same rules and that Seville would have its own local staff committee. By the way, we are also the only organisation which came up with a comprehensive staff representation reform proposal. Continue reading Staff elections in Brussels in autumn 2018
Would you be concerned if the inflation rate in the EU would be again 130%? Generation 2004 is, and we are because within the Commission it seems we are in a hyperinflation mode. And who do you think should be hit again? Those who have already suffered the most – the post 2004 and 2014 reform fellows and especially our contract staff colleagues with children!
During the 13 June 2018 Joint Management Committee of the Childhood Centre (COCEPE) meeting OIB proposed to increase the amount you would have to pay from 228.4 EUR to 500 EUR per month for each child during summer holiday and Easter holiday. Apparently 1 day of service costs 86,38 EUR (1727.6 EUR per month) and the parents’ contribution covered only 13% of it. Therefore, OIB would like to encourage you to use the services offered on the Belgium market and thus limit the 20% absence rate. Continue reading 130% increase of parental contribution for outdoor childcare! Your voice counts!
There are two 6-year rules in the Commission:
The 6-year rule for Contract Agents (CAs) – which makes it impossible for a CA 3b to work for more than 6 years in the Commission. This rule is enforced very strictly, no matter how hard you work(ed), you are fired after 6 years if you are a CA 3b.The 2015 Brussels Local Staff Committee (LSC) elections marked a historical change in the staff representation. Generation 2004 as its winner, albeit obtaining 7 out of 27 seats, took its responsibility for the 2015-2018 mandate. Today with pride we can claim that we achieved a lot and obtained several positive results.
From the start th
e Local Staff Committee was on Generation 2004’s priority list. That is the reason why most of its resources, 4 out of 4.5 secondments, were assured by Generation 2004. Before the 2015-2018 term there were 13.75 seconded colleagues from different trade unions and staff associations and who decided to abandon ship after Generation 2004 took the wheel.
Together Łukasz Wardyn, the LSC President and Paola Pagliarulo, the LSC Secretary-General (both members of Generation 2004), organised over 40 plenary sessions and 44 meetings of the Bureau of the Local Staff Committee.
The main challenge was to reform the 26-year-old internal rules of procedure of the LSC as well as the reform of the Delegations of the LSC (drivers, interpreters, nurseries and childcare facilities).
Additional internal reforms were implemented in order to lay the foundation for an efficient and effective well-functioning LSC aiming at giving the staff committee back to staff. Continue reading Achievements of the Brussels Local Staff Committee during the term 2015-2018
…My Head of Unit always told me that my job description is not very important for my CA’s career, because it should only form the basis of my job specification. As a result, my job description presents a broad, general, and written statement of a specific job, based on the findings of a job analysis. It only includes generic duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope, and general working conditions of a job along with the job’s title, but never my effective, often additional, performed tasks…
Generation 2004 offers contract agents two arguments that highlight the importance of a good job description: Continue reading Why a job description is so important for a CA career?
Treating all staff members fairly in the European Institutions is not just a moral obligation but also a necessity to ensure maximum work performance. When one of the staff categories is treated unfairly, it results in decreasing its morale. Low morale results in decreased work performance. Which can, in turn, lead to high staff turnover.
With this in mind, Generation 2004 takes part in the comprehensive social dialogue to upgrade the legal framework for Local Agents in EU Delegations. The expected result of this social dialogue has provided significant input for reflection on the part of all social partners and has contributed to achieve a mutual understanding. This should result in better work performance and working relationships in EU Delegations. Continue reading Legal framework for Local Agents – finally fairly treated?
