23 October 2014Patents

EPO 'tells staff union' to vacate meeting rooms

The staff union for the European Patent Office (SUEPO) has seemingly received a series of guidelines that make changes to how it should operate in the office, WIPR has learned.

According to a leaked document, SUEPO members have been told to vacate all rooms they occupy and will now have to seek permission from management to hold meetings and general assemblies.

Meetings will also be forbidden during core working hours, the document claims.

The measures were outlined in the document, seen by WIPR, which was apparently sent to staff yesterday (October 22) by EPO President Benoît Battistelli.

WIPR contacted the EPO, which said it provides "all the facilities to the elected staff representation".

The SUEPO currently has access to four rooms in the Munich-based office that are assigned for office-based use. It has been given a deadline of November 1 to comply with the new measures, the document says.

Battistelli, the document suggests, said the new guidelines were necessary because the EPO staff unions are not considered statutory bodies, and were approved by the EPO’s supervisory body, the Administrative Council.

Union members have also seemingly been told they will no longer be granted what is referred to as ‘union leave’. Previously, staff were allowed time off for training purposes related to union activity.

The document also mentions calls for all future publications distributed by the union on notice boards around the office to be “professional and respectful”, and that the costs of printing any material should be carried out using SUEPO’s own resources.

As WIPR has been reporting since March, certain staff members are unhappy at various governance issues at the office.

Today (October 23) staff will decide whether to strike for what would be the third time since March.

The document claims that while staff are free to join unions and organise strikes, the unions representing the EPO are not recognised as statutory bodies and have their own financial resources.

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