The Contractual Agents
Have More Friends Than Just SID
You will remember that under the current version of the Staff Regulations Temporary Agents have the right to participate in internal competitions to obtain permanent posts, while Contractual Agents are excluded, leaving them with no other option than the external competitions.
The Commission admits that 25% of the participants pass the internal competition and obtain lifelong job security. Unfortunately, the success rate in the external competitions is only a few percent (depending on how many thousands of candidates enrol).
To put it as simply as possible; Temporary Agents have a ten times better chance than Contractual Agents to get a lifelong job in the EU civil service.
In spring 2009 SID filed a petition against this injustice with the European Parliament. In due course that Petition was ruled admissible and assigned number 192/2009, thus leaping over the first hurdle.
The European Parliament's Petitions Committee asked for and eventually obtained an explanation from the Commission which was rebutted by SID in its turn.
During the preparations for the Petitions Committee's meeting in early December 2009 Petition 192 was placed on the "B-List". "B" stands for "bury it, and forget it forever".
SID's patient lobbying paid off in the end; Petition 192 is back on the "A-List", where it belongs.
We need to thank several people for making this modest victory possible. There are several SID members who wrote rebuttals and lobbied by email, telephone and in person.
Our colleagues in the offices of the following MEPs had enough respect for the Contractual Agents to read about the injustice that they are being put through;
• Josefa Andresbarea
• Kinga Goencz
• Roger Helmer
• Joe Higgins
• Alan Kelly
• Csaba Tabajdi
• Clemente Mastella
• Erminia Mazzoni
• Mairead McGuinness
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• Angelika Werthmann
(in alphabetical order). Some of them sent encouraging replies.
The Contractual Agents also got help from several MEPs who come from different political parties but share a concern for fairness;
• Lidia Joanna GERINGER de OEDENBERG
• Jim HIGGINS
• Sean KELLY
• Jarosław WAŁĘSA
If that last name seems hauntingly familiar to you it is because the MEP inherited it from his father; the Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped to bring down the Soviet Union in a non-violent revolution.
This is quite an honour for a groups as small as SID and it should encourage Contractual Agents to follow the example set by Polish workers during the 1980s. Patient, subtle resistance can stop injustice.
