The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Mr Battistelli, dismissed two union official in Munich in January 2016 and imposed a serious sanction on a third one.
Despite fierce reactions in the media, the President of the EPO refused to reconsider his excessive decisions and refused to authorize an external review of the cases.
In 2016, a Dutch Labour Court found the EPO guilty of violating fundamental union rights. The ruling is still being ignored by the President of the EPO. The climate at the EPO continues to be oppressive.
In November 2016, the EPO President again sacked a union official, this time in The Hague : Laurent Prunier, Secretary of the Staff Union (SUEPO) and member of the Federal Committee of Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF), of which SUEPO-The Hague is an affiliate.
We reiterate our urgent claim to the EPO Council, the internal legislator of the organisation, to stop Mr Battistelli’s arbitrary anti-union action …
These scandalous events at the EPO also result from a deficient governance structure encountered in many international organisations. What happened to union officials at the EPO may occur anytime in any other international organisation. Witch hunting may well become a normal tool of social dialogue management. The disastrous effect on the international public service’s reputation does not seem to worry the governments anymore.
You have the possibility to support the sacked EPO union officials through the solidarity funds in place. Read the Tract sent by SUEPO concerning the dismissal of EPO union officials.
