“In a Union of equals, there can be no second class workers. Workers should earn the same pay for the same work in the same place.”
(J.C. Juncker, State of the Union address, 13 September 2017)
Generation 2004 is a dynamic staff association campaigning against injustice and inequality in the EU institutions. We give a voice to the interests of staff recruited in the EU Institutions after 2004/2014 who face diminished career prospects and deteriorating employment conditions and to everyone who feels that injustice and inequality cannot be at the very heart of the European institutions.
Why is there 2004 in the name of our organisation?
- Because 2004 was the year when the most drastic reform ever of the staff regulations introduced the various staff categories – including the Contract Agent category – that have deeply divided the staff ever since. If you are discriminated against, it is because of the 2004 reform!
- 2004 was also the year of the largest enlargement wave of the EU. Our organisation is also the natural home of all staff recruited from the “new” (2004+) Member States as above all they have to pay the price. The price for not only leaving the perks and privileges of pre-2004 staff untouched, but actually making the icing on the cake even thicker with the introduction of additional grades and so-called “Senior Experts” and “Senior Assistants”.
So if you have been recruited after the 2004 reform, you are part of our generation, no matter your nationality!
Generation 2004 aims at a unified EU Public Service that is fair, just and motivating for all its employees. The Commission is not doomed to live in a permanent state of injustice. Precious resources are being wasted on senior experts and other privileged staff. Generation 2004 demands that these resources be instead used to help the precarious staff in the Commission and redress the careers of those who have been penalised in the past.
- We denounce the systematic
legal and practical discrimination of post-2004 staff vis-a-vis their pre-2004 peers, in particular enforced through non-recognition of relevant professional experience. This lack of recognition affects both ADs whose professional experience is fully used by the Commission despite being confined to junior grades and ASTs who have to do AD tasks without the corresponding salary. Following the changes introduced earlier this year, an increasing number of CAs suffers from the same fate. With only 5 years of professional experience being recognized, the JRC becomes less attractive for experienced researchers. - Last but not least, we denounce
the increased use of precarious staff to carry out permanent tasks. Colleagues are not a dispensable resource that can be thrown out and replaced at will.
