Dear colleague,

Within the European institutions, staff (officials and agents) are represented by two types of bodies:

• In each institution there is a Staff Committee, which the Staff Regulations entrusts with advisory and, in some cases, joint management tasks. You are represented by the Staff Committee of the Court of Justice as of right.
• Staff members are also free to join trade unions and staff associations (OSP). The unions are independent of the institution; they exist thanks only to the membership and subscriptions paid by their members, which give them the means to act and guarantee their independence. A ‘representative’ trade union is empowered to negotiate with the Court of Justice and with the institutions in general regarding conditions of work and employment.

At the elections for the Staff Committee EPSU-CJ presents its list of candidates, who undertake to implement its programme. It is in your interest that the two branches of staff representation, statutory and union, act in unison with reciprocal respect for their respective spheres of competence.

EPSU-CJ is the representative union of the staff of the Court of Justice. It can, therefore, negotiate in your name! Its representativeness is based both on its results at the Staff Committee elections and on the number of its members.

But this officially recognised ‘representativeness’ should not be enough: it is the number of members and their participation in the democratic life of the union that gives it its real legitimacy.

A European Public Service in decline

Stability of employment and a satisfactory level of remuneration and pensions have allowed the European public service to fulfil its mission as the driving force of European integration, while safeguarding its independence, permanence and high level of competence.

However, in recent years, the conditions of employment, work, remuneration and pensions of the staff of the EU institutions have seriously deteriorated:

• Increase in working hours supposed to compensate for a reduction in staff numbers, increasing the age of retirement; introduction of new career barriers (function group AST/ SC), reduction or elimination of a series of allowances: in short, working more to earn less, while increasing unemployment!
• More ‘proposals’ remain in the drawers of the Council; the Member States are waiting for the next reform to lead the attack again.
• In the meantime, the erosion of purchasing power As a result, some of us are paid below the Luxembourg minimum salary.

Against such a plan of social regression it is up to the unions to oppose this with their own project for a social and democratic Europe of solidarity. But there is not much ‘the unions’ can do unless they rely on strong and effective membership.

A negotiating force, at all levels

At the Court of Justice, EPSU-CJ has stepped up to the mark as initiator and negotiator of rules that affect your situation (e.g. system of promotion of officials).

At an inter-institutional level, EPSU-CJ, which represents only 4% of all the staff of the institutions and agencies, has to make up for the relatively weak staffing levels of the institution by an enhanced credibility, backed by a high level of union membership. EPSU-CJ is affiliated with Union Syndicale Fédérale  (USF), a leading trade union which brings together, on the ground of common values and goals, staff of the European Union and international organisations in Europe.

To break with the ‘conveyor belt’ tradition, by creating a union that functions democratically, on the ground, with its natural base, is not something that everyone is lucky enough to have. But independence and democracy have their price:  EPSU-CJ invites you to rediscover trust in collective action.

A credible partner close to you

By joining EPSU-CJ or – better still – by becoming an active member, you are strengthening its ability to defend you, both at the collective and individual level.

Experienced colleagues are ready to advise you and defend you. Should litigation prove necessary, EPSU-CJ can also contribute to your legal expenses.

Make the right move now: sign up!

We invite you to exercise your right to join a union, in this way strengthening EPSU-CJ‘s legitimacy in defending your rights.