EPO demo attracts ‘more than 1,000’, further actions planned

More than 1,000 staff members at the European Patent Office (EPO) took part in a demonstration in support of two sacked workers, it has been claimed.

Last Friday, January 15, the EPO confirmed the dismissal of Elizabeth Hardon, chair of the Staff Union of the European Patent Office’s (SUEPO) Munich branch, and Ion Brumme, the union’s treasurer.

Committees made up of staff and management representatives had recommended “high sanctions” against the three members, EPO president Benoît Battistelli had said.

The staff members were accused of participating in a “damaging defamation campaign” against senior officials and issuing “calls for violence”. These claims have been denied by SUEPO.

According to SUEPO, a spontaneous demo was held within hours of the news breaking.

Then on Wednesday, January 20, an organised demo was held with around 1,100 to 1,300 participants, SUEPO said. That demo also included a delegation from the EPO’s Vienna office.

The demo began at the EPO’s Isar building in Munich and finished at the Bayerische Staatskanzlei, the office of the Bavarian minister-president Horst Seehofer. A petition was then handed over calling on the Bavarian government to step in.

The petition called for a re-establishment of EPO standards of governance and legal standards, an end to “senseless degradation of staff working conditions”, and effective measures to restore “a true, good faith, social dialogue”.

Two more demos are planned for the next month.

On Thursday, January 28, staff in The Hague office of the EPO plan to march from the French embassy to the German embassy, and another demo will take place in Munich on February 17.