EPO staff to hold demo to coincide with AC meeting

The European Patent Office’s (EPO) largest staff union has called for a demonstration to coincide with the next meeting of the Administrative Council (AC) on March 16.

The Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) called for a demo yesterday, March 9, following a vote from staff members to take strike action.

No strike date has been confirmed, but SUEPO said that the strike might not go ahead if the AC proposes a series of actions “to put an end to the war that [EPO president] Benoît Battistelli is waging against EPO staff”.

The protest is due to take place on March 16, the first of a two-day AC meeting in Munich.

SUEPO has called for the reinstatement of two of its senior members who were dismissed in January over claims that they ran a defamation campaign against the office.

The union is also calling for an independent review of the disciplinary procedures at the office.

According to a flyer distributed by SUEPO, the union said it maintains its stance that it will not sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) proposed by Battistelli.

The MOU is part of an attempt by Battistelli to heal relations between staff and management by officially recognising SUEPO as a “social partner”.

SUEPO said the MOU is “problematic” because it binds the union to the office’s service regulations, which can be “unilaterally” changed by the office.

Last week, the Fédération de la Fonction Publique Européenne of the European Patent Office, a second smaller union that represents staff at the EPO’s office in The Hague, signed an MOU.

Battistelli described the signing as a “milestone in a renewed social dialogue”.

Yesterday, an EPO spokesperson told WIPR that the door is still open for SUEPO to sign the MOU.