Presentation USB

Union Syndicale seeks constructive dialogue and pursues realistic objectives with commitment and determination on the basis of trade union demands democratically decided by its members. In negotiations, Union Syndicale ensures that its representatives are better prepared and more competent than their administrative or political counterparts, as well as those of other unions. If, despite its efforts, dialogue fails, Union Syndicale will mobilise staff with determination to re-establish the balance of power necessary for the resumption of genuine negotiations.

In the course of its long history, Union Syndicale has achieved a number of important results:

• The statutory right for staff to be a member of a trade union or professional organisation;
• Statutory recognition of the right of trade unions to conclude agreements on behalf of staff, to negotiate disputes on their behalf and, where appropriate, to organise strike action;
• The adoption and successive renewal – in 1972, 1976, 1981, 1991, 2004 and 2014 – of a method for adjusting civil servants’ pay and pensions: from 1991 to 2009, salaries increased by 50% without conflict. On each occasion, it was Union Syndicale that formulated the proposals, led the negotiations, organised strike action when necessary, concluded the agreement and ensured that it was properly implemented.

For many years, the Member States, for budgetary or ideological reasons, but most often for demagogic reasons, have wanted to reduce our working conditions and pay. Before the enlargement of May 2004 to include ten, then twelve, new Member States, they demanded that it be carried out at the lowest possible cost, which obliged the Commission to propose a reform of the Staff Regulations.

Union Syndicale refused the diktat of the Commission and the Member States and, thanks to the mobilisation of staff, forced the Commission to negotiate to prevent the reform of the Staff Regulations from becoming a dismantling of the Staff Regulations. The other unions refused to shoulder their responsibilities and practised the empty chair policy, preferring attacks, demagoguery and empty rhetoric to defending the interests of staff. However, realising that reform was unavoidable and that the outcome of the negotiations led by Union Syndicale safeguarded the fundamental principles of the European Public Service, in particular its competence, independence and permanence, they finally signed their agreement to the final package.

In 2011, with a view to negotiating the 2014–2020 multiannual financial framework, and in order to meet the demands of the Member States, the Commission proposed a new reform of the Staff Regulations. Union Syndicale was once again at the forefront of the fight to preserve the Staff Regulations and the working conditions of all European Public Service staff. For the first time, this reform was to be adopted under the co-decision procedure. Unfortunately, the extremely radical positions of certain Member States, the Commission’s weakness in defending staff and the need to please the different political groups in the Parliament led to a far from satisfactory outcome. The lack of combativeness on the part of the other unions, who naively preferred to rely on the Commission and the Parliament to bend the Council, also contributed to this outcome, which has had significant consequences for staff working conditions: a move to a 40-hour week without any compensation, a two-year pay freeze, the creation of a new sub-category of staff (AST/SC) with much more unfavourable pay and career conditions, an increase in the retirement age, a reduction in pension rights, career freezes, etc.