z Newsletter article

Legal framework for Local Agents – finally fairly treated?

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?

Fact Checking

As most of you probably also are, Generation 2004 is fed up of reading staff representation tracts that are at least misleading and sometimes blatantly false. For this reason we have decided to create this column. Its name, Fact Checking, will be a place where we will try to regularly debunk these claims.You may also participate and help us. How? Well, it’s simple, if you see any message or statement from any union or staff association – Generation 2004 included – and that you find falls short in the realm of truthfulness, then just point it out to us and we will analyse it, get the straight dope on it and report back to all. Finally and obviously, unless otherwise explicitly requested we will keep our source anonymous. Continue reading Fact Checking

Secretly Fighting Against Precariousness

The R&D section at the EP has publicized its strong agreement with anti-precariousness positions taken up by Parliamentarians in a resolution . Parts of the R&D text are somewhat fuzzy due to being translated too literally from French into Franglais, so some readers may get the impression that R&D has played a major part in persuading the EP. If that is so, they have been very secretive until now.

NPS and SID jointly developed Petition 0178/2017 against Automatically Firing Contract Agents and with much appreciated support from G2004 got the endorsement of the EP’s Petitions Committee which passed the petition on to Legal Affairs Committee. In all that time, we never heard even a whisper from the R&D, so discrete that we did not know they were there. Maybe you, dear reader can help us out. Here is a video clip of the key meeting.

Send us an email if you can identify R&D members in the room.

East Anglia Survey- Deadline is 22 June!

You have probably seen several invitations to fill in a survey organised by the University of East Anglia on the EU institutions and its staff. The survey is about our organisation and 

about our working methods. It is part of an important study that provides an insight into how our organisation functions and is managed today.

Your contribution by filling in the survey would be important in order to give rich and diverse information to the researchers from all corners of the Commission. Continue reading East Anglia Survey- Deadline is 22 June!

Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!

In our previous Newsletter, we asked you to participate in a survey on professional mobility. Here is our analysis of the contributions we have received.

Let us start with the gist of it. In general, job mobility seems to be a positive thing (chart 1) while at the same time it seems to be difficult to achieve (chart 5): around 3 quarters think that the impact of a move is  neutral to very positive while the same share of respondents find it neutral to very difficult to move. Continue reading Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!

Reform of the social dialogue – Will staff representation disappear from smaller sites as the Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg tells you?

Declaration of “the” Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg

“The” Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg, in its communication of 22 May 2018 “Declaration on the importance of local representation of the Staff Committee in Luxembourg” explains that the interests of the Luxembourg staff are at risk, because of a reform of the staff representation. This is at least very strongly exaggerated! Continue reading Reform of the social dialogue – Will staff representation disappear from smaller sites as the Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg tells you?

Are you registered to vote in Belgium? Don’t miss the deadline – your voice counts!

Until 31 July, non-Belgians can sign up to vote in the local municipal elections which will take place in October. All EU citizens have the right to vote, while non-EU citizens can vote after living 5 years in Belgium.

Non-Belgians represent one third of the electorate (or 300.000 people) in Brussels, including nearly 1/2 of the electorate in the communes of Etterbeek, Ixelles or Saint Gilles. Voting is your chance to have a say on the decisions taken by the communes which have broad powers, such as population services, cleanliness, urban planning, roads and public spaces such as parks and playgrounds, and cultural and sports centers. Continue reading Are you registered to vote in Belgium? Don’t miss the deadline – your voice counts!

The promotion system for officials: How it works

The annual promotion decisions are taken by the Appointing Authority (AA), on the basis of 1) proposals by the senior management of each DG; 2) recommendations by a Joint Promotion Committee (JPC).

DGs and JPCs must determine who deserves a promotion on the basis of a comparison of merits (in theory…, see article below). All officials take part in the appraisal exercise. But only those who are eligible for promotion, i.e. have been in the grade for at least 2 years take part in the promotion exercise. Continue reading The promotion system for officials: How it works

Reform of the promotion system

Elsewhere we explain how the promotion exercise works in theory, with three levels of ‘merit comparison’ along the exercise (at directorate-general level, by the Joint Promotion Committees and their preparatory groups, and finally by the appointing authority (AIPN)) on the basis of comprehensive and unambiguous appraisals. Continue reading Reform of the promotion system

Where there is a will, there is a way! (at least for the chosen ones)

Generation 2004 has a confession to make… Due to the long and unfair fight with the Commission (EC) administration to rectify the differences between pre- and post-2004 staff employment conditions, we were ready to give-up, turn off the lights and close the shop. It is not easy to fight battles against a pre-2004 biased administration with a hierarchy still composed in the vast majority of pre-2004 staff. Therefore, it was only natural that our motivation had ebbed…

Continue reading Where there is a will, there is a way! (at least for the chosen ones)