Elections

Electoral reform proposals: transparency in the ballot lists

Brussels, Electoral reform, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter - 2021-09-08 Print This Post

At Generation 2004 we make no secret of the fact that we would like to see electoral reform. A standardisation of the electoral rules would make the staff representation not just simpler and significantly more user friendly for all, but also much more transparent.

That transparency would, ideally, also be extended to groupings of trade unions and staff associations (OSPs). It is imperative that staff know for whom they are voting: the voting system is already opaque and any agreements in place between OSPs should be made clear in order to allow staff to make informed decisions when voting. [1] Continue reading Electoral reform proposals: transparency in the ballot lists →

Geel elections: Generation 2004 staff representatives 2021

Elections, Electoral reform, Geel Print This Post

Despite being in the period of summer holiday, the July 2021 Geel local staff committee election has been successfully concluded with your support! You gave us 294 votes in total, which corresponds to 7 out of 14 elected representatives [1]. Generation 2004 thanks each and every colleague who took the effort to participate in the paper voting (no electronic voting for Geel as yet). Continue reading Geel elections: Generation 2004 staff representatives 2021 →

Lingua franca, what? SCIC

Brussels, Elections, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter - 2020-07-01 Print This Post

What does it mean when your interlocutor refuses to use the only language you both have in common? Is it a (repeated) oversight? Forgetfulness? Something else?

Why on earth would anyone do this on purpose? They wouldn’t, right?

Regardless of the motivation, it’s awkward, isn’t it, being spoken at in a language you don’t understand, especially when you know you have a language in common and you’ve asked several times to use it. Continue reading Lingua franca, what? SCIC →

The old guards maintaining the status quo in Karlsruhe and Geel

Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Karlsruhe, Newsletter - 2021-06-16 Print This Post

The infinite depths of (Commission) space. The final frontier: the Joint Research Centre (JRC).  Its mission: to boldly go where noone (Commission official) has gone before: research, innovation, digitalisation, green deal … Really? Also at the JRC Karlsruhe and Geel?

What happened there? Continue reading The old guards maintaining the status quo in Karlsruhe and Geel →

On career unionism and the fallacy of irreplaceability (long read)

Central Staff Committee, Elections, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, OSPs, Social Dialogue Print This Post

To start with, lets clear the air and get this out in the open: the discussions between the administration and the staff (‘social dialogue (SD)’) via the elected representatives (‘staff representation (SR)’)  and the trade unions and professional staff associations (OSPs), are necessary. As DG Human Resources and Security (DG HR) puts it on the Staff Matters website, the social dialogue: Continue reading On career unionism and the fallacy of irreplaceability (long read) →

The same electoral rules for all!

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-04-28, Outside the Union, Petten, Social Dialogue Print This Post

Uniform and fully democratic electoral rules throughout the Commission, synchronised electronic elections at all sites and, last but not least, a separate local staff committee (LSC) for Seville: these are the key elements of a proposal for staff-representation reform developed by Generation 2004. We have been raising these issues in one form or another since at least 2013 and have actively led on related efforts to address these three points on several occasions. Continue reading The same electoral rules for all! →

Central Staff Committee voted to continue Business as Usual

Central Staff Committee, Elections, Electoral reform, Newsletter - 2021-02-03, Social Dialogue Print This Post

The Renouveau & Démocratie (R&D)-controlled majority in the Central Staff Committee (CSC) has rejected proposals from Generation 2004 to make the work of the Central Staff Committee more efficient, transparent and inclusive.

Under the guise of business continuity, it voted for the status quo, and to address none of the pressing problems that have hampered the work of the CSC for years. Continue reading Central Staff Committee voted to continue Business as Usual →

Luxembourg has elected a new Local Staff Committee

Elections, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter #38 - Dec 2019 Print This Post

Luxembourg staff has voted for a new Local Staff Committee (LSC) and the results of the elections have been published. Three lists were competing for the favour of voters: Generation 2004, Union Syndicale Luxembourg (USL) and a composite list made up by 6 entities, one of which (RS) is already a grouping of trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) naming themselves “Ensemble Luxembourg” (EL). Continue reading Luxembourg has elected a new Local Staff Committee →

On the functioning of the Brussels LSC

Brussels, Electoral reform, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter #38 - Dec 2019 Print This Post

As you may know, Generation 2004 scored highest in the last Brussels local staff committee elections with 30% of votes. It was not only a big surprise to the administration, but foremost to the other trade unions. Despite the huge gain in votes and representativeness and due to preferential votes to smaller trade unions, G2004 did not obtain due number of seats in the Local Staff Committee Brussels (LSC). The new President Continue reading On the functioning of the Brussels LSC →

Playing Three-card Trick with voters? And the winner is … the Alliance?

Elections, Electoral reform, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg Print This Post

In theory, you have the choice between 3 different lists in the elections for the Local Staff Committee Luxembourg. In practice, however, the true choice will be between 2 alternatives: Generation 2004 (list 1) and the ‘old’ trade unions (list 2 and list 3) who 15 years after the 2004 reform still continue to claim extraordinary privileges for the few chosen.

Chart 1

At a closer look, the picture is even worse. Both lists are dominated by the Alliance (‘Confederal Alliance of Free Trade Unions’) [*] of “independent trade unions”, which mean small, at the Commission level often non-representative organisations. (NB: A trade union or staff association is considered representative if it represents at least 6% of staff at Commission level.) Since only representative organisations have access to resources for their operation, non- Continue reading Playing Three-card Trick with voters? And the winner is … the Alliance? →