EPSO CAST vs. CAST PERMANENT One of the reasons for frustration of Contract Agents (CA) happens even before they are hired (i.e., during the recruitment phase).
The CAST PERMANENT is a selection tool that was introduced in 2017. Permanent means that there is no deadline, so candidates can submit applications at any time. Continue reading Contract Agents are frustrated! Here is why!
Recently, DIGIT assigned a cyber-security
training to all Commission staff – as this includes your friendly Generation 2004 team, we take the liberty to give a bit of feedback on this training. This seems necessary because the training contains some outright contradictory advice, forcing colleagues to choose either one or the other. The training is marked as confidential, so we cannot give you quotes here – which is a pity, because the advice is rather general in nature and applies in every company in one way or another. Continue reading IT security in the Commission
Regular readers of our newsletter might remember that Generation 2004, together with several other trade unions, has tried to change the electoral rules for Luxembourg in the past – and it did not work out. But we are used to fighting long up-hill battles, so of course we tried again in the recent general assembly in Luxembourg.
Unlike last time, we did not arrive at a consensus with the other trade unions to present just one common proposal: instead, staff was presented with two proposals! Please read the summary of our proposal, including a comparison with the other proposal (it includes links to the full text of both proposals). Continue reading A new electoral system in Luxembourg – so close yet so far
As you surely are aware, our salaries are updated once a year: following a detailed calculation by Eurostat, we usually get a salary update with the December salary slip. The amount of the update is determined by what civil servants in the members states received as updates to their salaries. So far, so good, at least for (most) colleagues in the EU. Continue reading An unprecedented general intermediate salary update
*Check out the results of this survey*It is now two months since its adoption: is the new Decision on Working Time and Hybrid Working in line with your expectations? How many days are you allowed to telework? Do you feel everyone has the same opportunities?
Since DG HR has not yet gathered its courage to formally and concretely ask you what you think about the so-called “New Normal” and how it is affecting your professional and private lives, Generation 2004 dares to face “the elephant in the room” and ask YOU what YOU REALLY THINK. Continue reading New rules on Working Time and Hybrid Working. Tell us what you think.
New Decision on Working Time and Teleworking: service à la carte = discrimination! [1]
Two months into the implementation of the new Decision, Generation 2004 has already received many complaints from colleagues whose Directorate General (DG) has a restrictive reading of the decision. According to the information we have received, several DGs and services, including DG GROW, DG TAXUD, OIL and the Legal Service, have drafted – or are drafting – guidelines that set up an obligation to come to the office 3 or even 4 days per week, to the dismay of many among their staff. Often the reason given is a generic “interest of the service”, without offering any specific details and consulting staff, while such need was not necessary prior to the pandemic. And without carrying out an analysis based on different types of jobs or tasks inside the DG or service. Continue reading The much expected new normal arrived, and it’s unfair for many!!!
The war in Ukraine that followed its illegal and unjustified invasion by the Russian Federation keeps raging after three and a half months. With it, millions of refugees have fled the country, with EU countries – Ukraine’s closest geographical neighbors – becoming their natural escape.
Against this backdrop, Generation 2004 continues its engagement to support Ukrainian refugees and has joined the joint action of all trade unions for Ukrainian refugees in Belgium. Below we share this action and we also ask colleagues to keep helping. It is still extremely necessary to make sure the victims of this war feel supported. Continue reading Generation 2004 continues supporting Ukrainian refugees
Imagine that an educational institution sets a calendar at the beginning of the school year, clearly detailing the start, holidays and end of the course, but that one month before its end, announces that the course will be cut by two weeks, without any explanation.
You can stop imagining because this surreal situation is actually going on at the European School of Ixelles in Brussels. On 4/05/2022, the school notified that pupils from S1 to S4 would end their school year on 21/06/2022 instead of the planned date, 1/07/2022. The European School of Uccle in Brussels also announced it on 13/05/2022, at least providing an explanation: they need the full school and all the teachers to organize the Bac oral examinations. Continue reading Unreliable European school calendar
*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not otherwise skewed to reduce participation.* Continue reading Internal competitions – fast careers… for some
*Update: neither of the proposals was successful.* On Monday, 16 May 2022, colleagues in Luxembourg will meet in a General Assembly to change the electoral rules for Luxembourg. This is not a new topic: Generation 2004 has considered for a long time that the current rules are flawed. We tried to change the rules in 2019, but missed the required 2/3-majority (not by much, though). We have learned from this and have incorporated the feedback received into our new proposal. Continue reading General assembly in Luxembourg to change the electoral rules – please vote!
