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| Europe |
| Brussels civil servants refuse to work 40 hrs/wk |
| 2011-09-23 |
| Brussels civil servants are refusing to discuss austerity measures aimed at cutting the cost of the EU -- and claim that having to work a 40 hour week would ruin the "attractiveness" of their jobs. Jeez, I guess if they do it...you'll all have to quit and look for other more attractive jobs then, right? Right? If a unionized civil servant isn't doing his job 37 1/2 hours a week, what's the point of asking him to not do his job 40 hours a week? Trade unions representing the EU's army of 55,000 officials have refused to discuss proposals for a 40 hour working week -- an extra 2.5 hours -- the key measure in a Brussels drive to save taxpayers £870 million a year by 2020. Ve vill not doo eet, feelthy bourjwahzee peeg dawgs! The longer week is vital to a European Commission plan to save money by cutting the number of EU officials by five per cent at a time when national public sector workers are facing huge redundancies and sweeping austerity programmes. Here's an idea. The next big snow storm, say that only "essential personnel" have to report to work. Whoever doesn't show up...fire them. And thank them for proving your point. It's Belgium. I don't think they have big snowstorms, although it does get brisk along the coast. But the measure, already regarded as minimal by cash-strapped national governments seeking to cut their EU contributions, has been rejected outright by trade unions representing civil servants who are among the best rewarded in the world. "The unions and staff associations replied to this proposal with a categorical 'Niet!'," the Equipe d' Union Syndicale, a group of trade union leaders, told its members. "The attractiveness of the European civil service would deteriorate. It would be a socially-backward step that the unions and staff associations reject emphatically." Of course the service will still suck...we will not jeopardize our traditions! Sounds like the unions called in their Greek compatriots to stiffen their collective spines... Martin Callanan, the leader of the European Conservatives, said: "Public sector staff the world over are facing cutbacks and wage freezes. But here in Brussels they seem to think they live in an economic microclimate where money grows on trees and the world owes them a very comfortable living." Yeah...so? Vat ees your point, fascist peeg? "They need to get real and start to talk to us about how they can help Europe out of this crisis." If there was no crisis Europe would need a lot fewer bureaucrats, apparatchiks and nomenclatura. And we're not going to let that happen, are we? Well, ARE WE? The EU staff unions are also opposed to any changes to a generous flexitime scheme that meant that 2,000 Brussels officials, earning from £104,000 to £185,000 a year, were entitled to three months off work on full pay last year. Despite being paid six figure salaries, the EU's most senior civil servants have been allowed to join the scheme, originally meant for lower paid secretarial staff, that gives them an extra 24 days off work every year for those that put in an extra 45 minutes a day in the office. Hey! Look what peasants are getting away with! How wasteful! We've gotta get in on that! HARRRRUMPH HARRRRUMPH HARRRRUMPH... The perk comes on top of annual holidays of 24 days as well as seven days off for public holidays, and in 2010, 11 "non-working" days out of the office when the Brussels institutions are closed in summer and at Christmas. The allowances mean that last year many EU staff were entitled to 66 days, 13 weeks or a over quarter of the year off work. And I'm sure they're real heavy lifting jobs too.. In response to a commission request that senior management grades be taken out of the scheme, EU staff trade unions have demanded the opposite, that "principle of recuperation needs to be consolidated". Tell them to go on strike. See what happens... Stephen Booth, of the Open Europe pressure group, said: "This protest shows a complete lack of self-awareness and is an insult to taxpayers all over Europe who face falling living standards and the threat of redundancy." |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #6 I suggest they be put on the RACK for the extra 2.5 hours and see how they like that. |
| Posted by: dacama 2011-09-23 23:39 |
| #5 Break them on the wheel. I'm sure their objections will vanish. When on a rig, I work 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week from well start to end. I'm on call 24/7 out here and I don't whine about it. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division 2011-09-23 12:22 |
| #4 They are just like Chicago Public School teachers. Sense of Entitlement with no accomplishment to justify it. |
| Posted by: Bigfoot Jeter8554 2011-09-23 11:22 |
| #3 The main reason the deb crisis will only get worse, is governments everywhere can't/won't stand up to the public sector unions. Even Greece teetering on the brink can't bring itself to fire substantial numbers of government workers. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2011-09-23 05:11 |
| #2 Forty hours per wouldn't be bad as long as you didn't actually have to come into the office and like, do stuff. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-09-23 01:39 |
| #1 We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph! |
| Posted by: gromky 2011-09-23 00:45 |