In the absence of any real action on the issue of Luxembourg housing costs from the EU institutions, assistance is now available from the Luxembourgish state for those on lower incomes (for Luxembourg(!)[1]) who are renting. The subsidy is between €200 and €400 per month, depending on take-home pay and how many children there are in your household. Looking at our salary scales, and depending on individual circumstances, this might help staff in all function groups and categories, but particularly our contract agent (CA), assistant (AST) and secretaries and clerks (AST/SC) colleagues. Using the pay calculator as a rough guide, we see that the Luxembourg national authority evaluation of what constitutes a low income includes our colleagues e.g. in CA III, grade 9(5), AST2(1) and AST/SC3(1). Please don’t just look at your payslip, not all allowances count towards your net income. Check out whether you are eligible by requesting a PMO certificate via the MyIntracomm Luxembourg state aid page. Let the PMO do an official calculation, you might be pleasantly surprised! Continue reading Housing prices in Luxembourg – the state takes action for renters
Staff Regulations Reform
Housing prices in Luxembourg – the Commission is fully committed to doing nothing
*Update 09.09.2022: the Luxembourg state has taken action on housing costs* Colleagues in Luxembourg are well aware of the housing situation there: prices are so high that an increasing number of colleagues are unable to afford accommodation in or close to the city of Luxembourg. Generation 2004 has raised this point repeatedly and so we were very eager to see what (if any) measures the Commission might propose in its report to the Parliament and the Council on the application of the salary method (document COM(2022) 180 final). Calling this report a disappointment would be an understatement: dear Commissioner Hahn, if you don’t want to do anything for the colleagues in Luxembourg, just say so and don’t put up smokescreens. That would at least be an honest statement, instead of the current beating around the bush. Continue reading Housing prices in Luxembourg – the Commission is fully committed to doing nothing
Time for the Commission to focus on inclusion: cancer survivors
Generation 2004 strongly supports colleagues in the EU institutions affected by cancer, just as we support colleagues with any important issue impacting their physical and/or mental health. As the Commission has been in the process of revising its HR strategy for almost 2 years now, it is high time to put in place a new policy to better cater for the needs of cancer survivors and their families and the needs of all colleagues whose complex situations are not well covered by the current patchwork of rules [1]. Continue reading Time for the Commission to focus on inclusion: cancer survivors
Housing costs in Luxembourg: recognition?
*update 01.04.2022 Corporate Management Board meeting of 30 March 2022 – Flash note: ‘12 actions are being proposed to increase the attractiveness of Luxembourg as place of employment’*
Colleagues in Luxembourg are facing today (well … for over a decade really) house prices that are in no way comparable to those in Brussels, although they receive the same salaries. In the words of DG HR: “This […] has been subject to criticism by some staff members whose place of employment is Luxembourg, who have argued that it does not properly reflect differences in the cost of living between Brussels and Luxembourg.” Continue reading Housing costs in Luxembourg: recognition?
Assistants (ASTs) FAQs
Here is the presentation from today’s meeting with assistants (ASTs) and below you’ll find an extended version of a frequently asked questions (FAQs) based on the questions asked.
If there’s something here you can add to, you’d like more information on or that you’d like to challenge (we’re open to all input!) then please get in touch: we’re here for you ! Thanks very much to all who attended! Continue reading Assistants (ASTs) FAQs
Stop the phasing out of the AST function group!
A brief history of assistants, secretaries and clerks in the European Commission
Since 2018 Generation 2004 has been warning of and working against the phasing out of the assistants (AST) function group (FG) and the placing of all AST staff in ‘transition’. To better understand the issues at stake, we need to briefly examine the history and evolution of assistants, secretaries and clerks (AST/SC) in the European Commission. Continue reading Stop the phasing out of the AST function group!
Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read)
The medical reservation rules and their implementation: how well do they fit with the prohibition of discrimination against persons with disabilities and the current HR drive for diversity and inclusion [1]?
The pre-recruitment medical: excluding those with disabilities?
Continue reading Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read)
Stated aims and reality: AST/SC
Thanks to all of you who attended our secretaries and clerks (AST/SC) conference, the issues raised and discussed there are explained in detail in our original article.
For those of you who haven’t done so already, please sign our petition [1] to improve the opportunities available to our AST/SC colleages: Continue reading Stated aims and reality: AST/SC
AST/SC conference Tuesday 22 June
We will be glad to have you at our AST/SC conference on 22 June 2021 from 12:30 to 14:00 held via Teams (here is the link).
You may wish to read our article Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW and show your support for our petition to the European Parliament to help our AST/SC colleagues.
Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW
The secretarial and clerical assistants (AST/SC) function group (FG/’GF’) was introduced by the 2013 revision of the Staff Regulations (SR) that entered into force 01.01.2014.
The established ‘dinosaurs’ trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) did not oppose the creation of the AST/SC category in 2013. Now they hypocritically claim that they care about the AST/SC staff and want to help them. What they really care about is getting the AST/SC votes in the forthcoming staff representation elections. Continue reading Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW
