24 October 2014Patents

EPO staff vote in favour of third strike

Staff at the European Patent Office (EPO) have agreed to stage another strike following a vote among staff members yesterday (October 23), it has been claimed.

According to sources, 52% of staff voted on the proposed strike with 85% voting in favour of a walkout.

It is the third time staff members have held strike action since March this year.

The EPO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claims.

Earlier this month, WIPR reported that EPO President Benoît Battistelli had said the strike action was “without merit” but that staff would still be able to vote on the issue.

Workers are understood to be concerned about changes at the office, including an alleged abolition of new staff investigation guidelines, and are calling for more freedom of communication for unions and other staff members.

There are also concerns surrounding changes to strike regulations, and alterations to starting salaries and career prospects.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Patents
14 October 2014   A proposed strike today at the European Patent Office has been delayed and accused of being “without merit” but staff will still vote to take action later this month.
Patents
23 October 2014   The staff union for the European Patent Office has seemingly received a series of guidelines that make changes to how it should operate in the office, WIPR has learned.
Patents
12 November 2014   Staff at the European Patent Office have agreed to a series of intermittent strikes over five weeks, WIPR has learned.