Münchner Merkur reports on the threats of dismissal against Elizabeth Hardon, Chair of the Local Staff Committee in Munich and SUEPO Munich Chair:"If Ms Hardon is dismissed, new elections for the staff committee will take place, 'But who would candidate, unless they are totally subsmissive?'"

The article was published in the paper edition Nr. 215 of 18 September 2015. A similar article was published in OVB Online.

Ms Bergot, Principal Director Human Resources at the European Patent Office, has sent highly threatening letters to Mr Michels, SUEPO Central Chair, and Ms Hardon, SUEPO Munich Chair, following a SUEPO publication concerning an investigation in which Ms Hardon was summoned for interrogation as accused.

Ms Liesbeth Zegveld, SUEPO lawyer, represents Mr Michels in this matter and Ms Hardon in the investigation. She has sent two letters of reply to Ms Bergot.

A copy of the reply on behalf of Ms Hardon can be found here and the reply on behalf of Mr Michels can be found here.

HR Praktijk (printable version) comments on"the poisoned working conditions which may have contributed to the suicides of five employees at the European organisation".

"[A] direct link between the suicide and the working conditions has yet to be established, but the labour inspectorate should be granted the opportunity to research the tragedy."

Translations inEnglish,French andGerman are available by scrolling through the document.

Ms Liesbeth Zegveld, SUEPO lawyer and Mr John Kerstens, Member of the Dutch House of Parliament (Tweede Kamer PvdA) were interviewed on 10 September 2015 on the Dutch channel Radio 1 over the "unhealthy working environment" in the European Patent Office.

The audio interview is hosted here (archive).

Transcripts in English,French andGerman are available by scrolling through the document.

Recently a letter from Ms Andrea Vosshoff (Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsrecht) to Ms Renate Kunast (Vorsitzende des Ausschusses für Recht und Verbraucherschutz) came to our attention.In this letter Ms Vosshoff asks for attention to certain weaknesses in the data protection set-up in the EPO. She asks the above mentioned committee for support in addressing the issues.

SUEPO intends to write a letter in support of this initiative, requesting to be heard in the matter.An aspect that seems thus far to have been overlooked is that Art. 20(1) EPO PPI seems to provide for a cooperation with the "competent authorities" in health and safety regulations and "similar regulations".The latter would seem to cover data protection regulations.

The number of ILO-AT member organizations continues to increase totalling 60 today as opposed to 25 in 1990 and 40 in 2000 - thus raisins concerns about the continued capacity of the Tribunal to carry out its responsibilities effectively.The ILO intends to hold a debate and prepare a guidance paper highlighting any difficulties encountered by the Tribunal in managing its workload. In preparing this paper, the ILO has submitted a questionnaire to be filled by all stakeholders.

SUEPO's answer to the subject questionnaire can be found here.

It represents the views of SUEPO and was prepared with the input from the following staff associations/unions: FICSA, WHO, WTO, WIPO, WMO, OPCW, IFAD, BIODIVERSITY INT, ESO, CERN and EMBL.

Update 29/10/2015: The ILO has now published the guidance paper which is available here.

Document temporarily not uploaded due to threats of reprisals from EPO management. SUEPO is taking appropriate action to counter the threats.

Document temporarily not uploaded due to threats of reprisals from EPO management. SUEPO is taking appropriate action to counter the threats.

Document temporarily removed due to threats of reprisals from EPO management. SUEPO is taking appropriate action to counter the threats.

IPKat reports on the article of the Dutch newspaper, de Volkskrant, focusing on the latest suicide at the EPO:

"Merpel urges the Administrative Council (AC) to act, and to act quickly. Discussions about whether the Office has immunity from employment law or is exempt from the prevailing standards of employee care throughout the EU are not only immaterial, they are repugnant in the present circumstances. Each AC delegate should take individual responsibility to ensure that the next time such a personal tragedy occurs, nobody thinks it newsworthy and nobody links it to the EPO as a place of employment."