Salaries of Local Agents in EU delegations are paid either in euros or in the local currency. The decision as to which currency is used is not always fully transparent and can lead to serious problems. In Turkey, for instance, the situation of Local Agents has become very difficult because of the massive drop in the Turkish Lira/Euro exchange rate in the past few months:
Continue reading Salaries paid in currencies other than Euros in Delegations
The Commission has launched an international architectural competition for a new building around the area where DG AGRI is currently located, the “L130” competition. The EU Cyclist Group is organising an interesting survey to ask what the staff expect from this new building. You should fill it! Continue reading New Commission building
Many of us strive to reduce our CO2 emissions, including those of us who walk to work and the 2000+ members of the EU Cycling Group . One area where employees of the institutions can probably make progress is the CO2 emissions caused by flying. Many of us being expats and because we work for a central administration that serve the needs of (almost) an entire continent, we tend to travel more than the average European. Much of this travelling occurs via airplanes, both for professional and for private reasons. We also receive many visitors that come to meet us or to meetings that we organise in the institutions. The rule of thumb is that travelling by airplane emits, for each passenger, about as much CO2 as travelling alone in a private car. Continue reading CO2 emissions
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.
