Their pay and perks may be the stuff of popular legend, but thousands of angry European Union officials went on strike this week to protest ”a provocative attack” on their fringe benefits.
The strike emptied the EU quarter in Brussels, with trade union leaders claiming that 90% of the officials had stayed off work. A similar one-day action last month saw 13 000 Eurocrats stay away. About 34 000 people work for the EU across Europe.
The start of the strike this week was noisy and colourful. A delegation of about 150 trade unionists occupied the lobby of the European Commission’s headquarters on Tuesday, waving placards and complaining that their pension rights faced serious erosion.
Donning red-and-green baseball caps, the delegation took their anger to the door of commission President Romano Prodi, who they claimed was shocked by the force of their feelings. But their real target was Neil Kinnock, the former United Kingdom Labour Party leader and current commission vice-president.
Earlier this week he struck a deal with EU governments to restructure the pay and conditions of the officials. Many placards branded Kinnock a liar and told him to ”back off”.
Under the changes — due to take effect next year — officials will still be entitled to a pension worth up to 70% of their final salary, but they will have to work longer for it, with the retirement age rising from 60 to 63. Instead of accruing two percentage points for each year at work, they will get 1,9%.
”You might say that this [change] is marginal, but it is the thin end of the wedge,” said Alan Hick, president of Union Syndicale, the biggest Eurocrat union.
”It is a clear case of discrimination against new EU civil servants from countries which are about to join the EU [who would be subject to the new regime]. It will create a two-tier European civil service.” The unions promised more strikes and court action.
But the changes will generate savings of up to £50-million (about R633,5-million) a year for EU taxpayers, Kinnock claimed.
Britain and other EU governments concluded earlier this year that the current pension system was ”excessively generous” and warned that the annual cost of maintaining the fund at its present levels could rise to £1-billion (about R12,7-billion) by 2020. This year the cost is set to rise to £500-million (about R6,3-billion).
Kinnock said before the strike that he was strongly opposed to it. ”Strike action does not assist in the process of obtaining the best working conditions,” he said.
”Staff must consider what they would be contributing to their own well-being and to the image of the commission by striking.”
Hick admitted that the wider world was unlikely to feel much sympathy for striking Eurocrats. ”We have an image problem. How many stories do you see in newspapers declaring that EU officials work hard?
”It’s always about the gravy train or scandal. Of course we have good working conditions, but we work damn hard. It’s not a cushy lifestyle.”
According to the EU’s pay scale, the salaries of officials start at £16 000 (about R202 663) a year, but can rise to £168 000 (about R2,1-million). They are also subject to minimal tax. — Â