For 50 years, Union Syndicale has been fighting to give rights to the staff of the European and international institutions: either through the negotiation of memoranda of understanding, framework agreements or directly through the incorporation of provisions into the Staff Regulations of the European Public Service, such as the right to strike and the right of association.

As mentioned in Agora 91, which was devoted to the 50th anniversary of Union Syndicale Fédérale, it was in the early 1970s that Union Syndicale, alongside the FFPE, had the recognition of trade union activity incorporated into the Staff Regulations of civil servants and other employees. Nevertheless, Union Syndicale and its representatives have never ceased to have to deal with interference from administrations, to such an extent that, alongside defending staff, this has become the additional battle fought by trade unionists for democracy in the workplace.

USF engaged in fighting anti-union attacks

In May 2015, at its 14th Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF) asked Congress members to adopt a resolution on access to justice for staff of European and international organisations. Congress noted that a common set of fundamental and social rights applicable within most international organisations is still lacking and that, as a result, staff members are deprived of systematic protection by fundamental rights as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, ILO conventions, and labour and social law based on Articles 151 to 155 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The resolution was adopted unanimously without any debate. It was adopted in a context in which USF’s Member Organisations (MOs) are confronted with administrations that mistreat trade unionists and staff representatives: by taking them to court directly, or even personally; by dismissing them; by attempting to modify framework agreements or codified protocols without prior consultation.

The preamble to the resolution does not go into detail about the elements that have been trampled underfoot or simply ignored by the administrations. However, there is a clear reference to the fundamental Charter of Human Rights and the ILO conventions that most countries worldwide have ratified. In particular, Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, which came into force in 1950 and has since been ratified by 158 countries, including all the countries belonging to the European Union.

The recurring anti-union attack that trade unionists in the European institutions have to face, and which directly affects the very organisation of the unions, is the ‘6-year rule’ (1), which seeks to limit the duration of the secondment (2) of a staff member of the EU trade union institutions to 6 consecutive years. In 2015, the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) attempted to revise the framework agreement and include this limitation. The employer was unsuccessful, not least because the clause affected only one person: Union Syndicale’s delegate to the Council, and the provision could be seen as a discriminatory personal attack on a trade unionist. A few years later (May 2021), the European Commission decided, unilaterally and without consultation, to reinstate this rule, which had been suspended since 2011 (3). Despite the protests of the Chairman of the Central Staff Committee at the time (R&D) (4) , the Commission succeeded because the trade union landscape there was very different: there were a great number of unions (no fewer than 13 at the time) and so were the trade unionists who had been seconded for more than 6 years. Thus, in just a few months of implementation, Union Syndicale would lose the trade union time of experts elected by the staff (LSC and CSC), but also of experts leading the trade union organisation (President of the USF Federation, head of communications at the USB, etc.). These regulations, which clearly constitute anti-union interference, run counter to ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on the right of workers to organise, as well as to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the case law that Union Syndicale has endeavoured to build up with the advice of highly reputed lawyers in the field, including Me Levi, Me Louis and Me de Montigny.

 

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_{(1) Or ‘10-year rule’ according to the institutions. It should be noted that the implementation of this rule has long been suspended by the European Commission}

_{(2) For the sake of convenience, we use the term ‘secondment’ here, but this provision is also known as ‘dispensation from service activities’ or ‘exemption from service’. It involves a percentage of working time, granted by the employer, which the employee uses to carry out a mandate or trade union activity.}

_{(3) Note of 19 May 2021 from the Directorate of DG Human Resources and Security addressed to the President of the Central Staff Committee and Presidents of the trade unions representing staff: With this note, I would like to inform you that the extension of the suspension to the duration of limit of six years of the statutory exemptions laid down in Article 4, paragraph 5 and subparagraph 5.1 of Commission Decision C(2011) 3588 of 27.05.2011 on the human and financial resources allocated to the Staff Committee of the European Commission, has not been further extended. Hence, the limit came into force on 16.05.2021.}

_{(4) Note from the Chairman of the CSC to the Commissioner, (consulted in the archives of the US)}