Firings will continue until morale improves - Merpel revisits the EPO

Merpel was extremely disappointed and dismayed to hear that Laurent Prunier, the Secretary of SUEPO The Hague and a member of the EPO's Central Staff Committee, has been fired by the EPO President, Benoit Battistelli.

Readers will recall that in January, Mr Battistelli dismissed the Union's chair and a former chair, and downgraded its treasurer. In March, responding to the extreme unrest and disquiet over his heavy-handed and seemingly vindictive disciplinary approach, an unprecedented communique was issued by the Administrative Council -- the body to which Mr Battistelli is nominally answerable, but which more frequently plays the role of a rather supine dog being wagged by a highly bellicose tail. 

The Communique is worth reading in the light of the most recent dismissal (it's appended to the Minutes of the March AC meeting). In it the AC emphasised its authority as the ultimate supervisory organ, repeated its concerns about the social unrest and that it had repeatedly urged the President and unions to reach a consensus, and noted "that disciplinary sanctions and proceedings against staff or trade union representatives have, among other reasons, made it more difficult to reach such a consensus". It then requested Mr Battistelli:

- to ensure that disciplinary sanctions and proceedings are not only fair but also seen to be so, and to consider the possibility of involvement of an external reviewer or of arbitration or mediation 

- pending the outcome of this process and before further decisions in disciplinary cases are taken, to inform the AC in appropriate detail and make proposals that enhance confidence in fair and reasonable proceedings and sanctions;

Merpel does not believe that any external review, arbitration or mediation was considered in the most recent dismissal. Without breaking confidences she cannot comment on the details of the reasons advanced for dismissal, but suffice to say that Mr Battistelli probably had very good reasons not to expose the procedure to external and independent scrutiny. SUEPO, organising a demonstration in protest today, has told its members that the dismissal is based on an allegation of harassment. As with the dismissal of Ms. Hardon in January, the alleged victim of harassment does not appear to have filed a complaint, but rather Mr Battistelli's closest associates have made the complaint on behalf of a staff member.

Long experience suggests that whatever concerns AC members might have about this latest development, they will not actually do anything concrete to take control over the ever-worsening situation in an organisation they purport to oversee. There is a very straightforward step that the AC could take if they in fact wished to restore confidence in the Office and themselves. Quite simply, they should invite a review and inspection from the national regulatory authorities in the countries in which the main Office sites are located, i.e. the German and Dutch labour ministries. If those bodies are satisfied that the Office is being run according to recognised basic norms of HR practice, then that would be enough to assure themselves that staff are being managed fairly. The management of the Office would resist and cry "diplomatic immunity", but the answer to this is simple: Article 20 of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities states:

Article 20
(1) The Organisation shall co-operate at all times with the competent authorities of the Contracting States in order to facilitate the proper administration of justice, to ensure the observance of police regulations and regulations concerning public health, labour inspection or other similar national legislation, and to prevent any abuse of the privileges, immunities and facilities provided for in this Protocol. 

The mandatory language used in this Article, which is an integral part of the law under which the AC operates and the EPO exists, requires that there be co-operation, apart altogether from the moral imperative of the AC's responsibilities to the 6,000+ staff members (as balanced against the one employee they seem unable to manage).

It is worth recalling that, in a recent independent study commissioned by SUEPO in which about 40% of EPO staff participated, 98% of respondents rated their confidence in Mr Battistelli as either "low" (6%) or "very low" (92%).  Currently, Mr Battistelli is running a Social Conference to address the concerns of the AC. Merpel can save readers the bother of waiting for the inevitable press release at the conclusion of this process. In an atmosphere where dissenting voices have been silenced, and only the foolhardy or very brave would risk their careers by speaking up for the 98% who have lost any confidence in Mr Battistelli, the Social Conference will be hailed as a resounding example of constructive, open dialogue. All it's missing is the leaders of the staff union who are being eliminated, one by one.

Of course this presents a shining opportunity for ambitious, concerned members of staff to take up the banner and step forward into leadership roles in the staff union. Those without dependent families and who are financially independent would be best suited to take on this career-ending role.