Unions hit Kinnock with ultimatum over job cuts

Date: 18/01/01

By Simon Taylor

EUROPEAN Commission staff unions are threatening to block Vice-President Neil Kinnock's reforms unless he withdrawsplans to cut the number of their full-time representatives.

The six unions wrote to Kinnock this week warning that they will not discuss the implementation of his White Paper on administrative reform until he backtracks on plans to scrap 12 full-time staff posts paid out of the EU's central budget.

"We will stop all negotiations until all the questions of resources for the unions are settled," said Franco Ianniello, president of the Renouveau et Démocratie staff organisation.

Unless the two sides can find a solution, the decision by unions to halt the talks could jeopardise Kinnock's plans to reinvigorate the reform drive at the end of February.

The Commissioner is planning to unveil a raft of schemes aimed at modernising the administration's working practices, including controversial proposals to streamline its promotion structure and change the way staff pay and pensions are calculated. But aides to Kinnock say the Commissioner does not plan to give in to the union's demands.

"According to the evidence that we have collected there is no member state which makes support available for full-time secondment," said Gert-Jan Koopman, Kinnock's deputy chief advisor. "While we are retaining a critical mass [in the staff committee] we are hardly at the radical end."

Koopman stressed that the Commissioner was not planning any cuts until after the unions had been given a chance to negotiate on reform issues. "We have no interest in cutting staff resources until the process of consultation is under way," he said. "We want to ensure that resources are available to unions for the very, very busy time ahead so we have a credible negotiating partner."

But the Commissioner's aide played down suggestions that the unions' refusal to negotiate could scupper the entire reform process. "This is not as serious as it looks. If they don't negotiate we can just go ahead."

Kinnock proposed cutting the full-time union representatives paid for by the Commission's central budget after last year's peer group review, when all departments were asked to draw up cost-savings plans.

He believes that the number of permanent posts should be reduced from 21 to nine. Kinnock has, however, also recommended increasing the number of posts on the central staff committee - which represents all personnel in official negotiations - by two to 27.

But the unions do not accept his argument that the cost-cutting exercise should apply to their own jobs. "The conclusion of the peer group to reduce the resources allocated to staff representation is unacceptable," the unions told Kinnock.

Staff organisations have even called for the total number of full-timers on the internal personnel committee to be increased by ten to 60 to cope with the workload of negotiating nearly 100 separate reform plans.

The row comes as Kinnock and two staff organisations are in a stand-off over plans to restructure the Commission's presence in Luxembourg. Unions are threatening to strike unless Kinnock holds consultations on a scheme to move staff between offices in Brussels and the Grand Duchy.

A meeting last week between the two sides failed to produce an agreement. The Commissioner refuses to start talks with the unions on the issue until the executive body has adopted its formal position paper.

European Commission staff unions are threatening to block Vice-President Neil Kinnock's reforms unless he withdraws plans to cut the number of their full-time representatives.