BUILDING POLICY
R&D urges OIB to stop considering the Executive Agencies’ staff as second-class personnel!
R&D Federal, the largest Trade Union representing the staff of the EU
Institutions, Executive and Decentralised Agencies and other EU Bodies, is calling on the Commission to instruct the OIB to stop treating staff in executive agencies as public service guinea pigs.
We once again would like to sincerely thank the hundreds of colleagues who have contacted us following the recent proposal/decision put forward by OIB Director Marc Becquet to move EISMEA, REA and HaDea to the North Light Building and to move CINEA and EACEA to COV2.
OIB cannot continue to organise “a self-referential social monologue” treating the staff as mere chess pawns…
For this move, OIB has fully applied its traditional approach that can no longer last:
a decision already taken in the absence of any social dialogue …
BUT
presented as usual as a “proposal” …
BUT
a very particular “proposal” that cannot be changed …
AND
a “proposal” that the OIB must take on the painful task of illustrating to those who are so inattentive and unnecessarily polemical that they failed to see its full merits from the outset … interests of the staff that only the OIB seems to have knowledge of ….when, in fact, the OIB does not even pretend that the staff would basically agree…
The reality is quite different : R&D fully supports the petition launched against this move
R&D fully shares these concerns and massively supports the petition launched by all Executive Agencies’ staff Committees against this move, with the support of all Trade Unions.
As mention in the petition and also recently put forward by the Directors of the Executive Agencies concerned by the move to former ENGIE Electrabel Building, the solution envisaged is not fit for purpose for the following reasons:
- Business needs are not taken into account as the proximity to the above mentioned EAs to the evaluation building (COV1) is vital for sound project management;
- Safety concerns related to the new proposed area since drug smuggling and prostitution occur openly;
- Negligible financial gains as with the current proposal on the table that five Agencies would have;
- Reputational risk linked to efficiency and staff engagement at a very crucial moment for the EU citizens;
- Absence of adequate catering services in the new proposed building
Yes, it is possible to do otherwise….R&D fully supports the counterproposal of the Directors of the Executive Agencies.
Indeed, when it comes to defend thousands of colleagues against an unreasonable and irresponsible decision, staff representatives and the administration concerned MUST ACT TOGETHER!
Moreover, we believe that the EAs counterproposal envisaging EISMEA, REA and HaDea to stay in COV2, the extension of the already deployed desk-sharing in the assigned offices (which would allow CINEA to be housed in COV2) makes perfect sense and allows all involved parties to get the best of both worlds.
R&D therefore urges the Commission to instruct the OIB:
- To stop considering the Agencies Staff Committees as second-class employees proposing surreal and top-down solution which do not take into account the nature of the tasks performed by the colleagues as well as by putting their physical integrity at risk;
- To stop treating staff representation bodies in the agencies as a simple “listening chamber” which is always informed ex-post rather than ex-ante on the building policy plans or, worse still, pretending that the Executive Agencies’ CPPT and the EA Directors would not be so opposed to the move…and even that finally they will love it ;
- To pragmatically accept the Directors proposal that would ensure financial gains, keep staff engagement and ensure consistency with EC’s new buildings policy, notably that of housing similar DGs/Agencies under the same roof rather than spreading out as would be the case in the scenario where CINEA and ERC would remain in COV and EISMEA, REA and HaDea would move to the Northern Light building.
Cristiano SEBASTIANI,
President