Interested in knowing more about the world of staff representation? Thanks to our guide you can now discover what happens "behind the scenes"!1) What does the Local Staff Committee do?
The best way to get an overall understanding of the LSC role consists in looking at the "End of Mandate Report 2018-2021" of the last LSC mandate - don't be afraid, it's a fast and pleasant reading!
2) Is the Local Staff Committee composition the only outcome of LSC elections?
NO. LSC elections set the following:
- the election of the 21 couples composing the LSC itself
- The number of seats allocated to each list at the Central Staff Committee, and the overall number of seats allocated to each list in the various joint committees
- the allocation of resources (secretaries, time exemptions and offices) to each Trade Union, depending on their share of votes (see "representativeness")
- the negotiating power of each Trade Union in front of the administration, especially during formal concertations. This negotiating power is also expressed by a higher or lower number of seats available to each Trade Union in high level concertation meetings.
3) How is the number of LSC seats assigned to each list?
The number of seats is calculated by combining the share of votes given to a list (block-list votes) with the share of votes given to individual couples belonging to one or more lists (preference votes), proportionally to the number of staff who chose to vote by one method or the other.
The following example may help to understand the mechanism:
Number of seats to assign: 21
Total number of voters: 2000
Voters who choose block-list vote: 1334 (2/3 of 2000)
Voters who choose preference vote: 666 (1/3 of 2000)
In this scenario, 2/3 of seats, i.e. 14 seats, will be assigned by counting block-list votes given to each list, while the remaining 1/3 (i.e. 7 seats) will be assigned to the lists having collected the highest number of preference vote.
Let's imagine that, in this scenario, 7 lists were standing for elections, and that all of them received the same number of block-list votes. In this case, the 14 seats assigned by block-list vote would go to the first 2 couples of each list, in order of presentation on the list.
The 7 remaining seats are assigned to the lists having received the highest number of preference votes. Within those lists, the most voted couples will be elected.
4) What is the difference between Local Staff Committee and Trade Unions?
The Local Staff Committee is entitled to ensure the correct application of rules. It can be considered as the watchdog of the Staff Regulations.
Trade Unions are entitled to discuss about changes to rules - Staff Regulations and GIPs (General Implementation Provisions, DGE in French).
5) What are "Concertations" and "Joint Committees"?
The social dialogue at the Commission is mainly structured in two different types of "meetings": Joint Committees and Concertations.
Joint Committees belong to the Staff Committee scope: these committees are composed by members of the Staff Committee and members of the administration, working together on specific issues. These committees express an opinion, which the administration should then take into consideration.
Some of the main joint committees are: COPAS (social activities), Health & Safety committee, Local Mobility committee, Joint Sickness Insurance committee.
Concertations, on the contrary, belong to the Trade Unions scope: they are the place where requests for change of rules or particular staff policy issues are discussed.
Three types of concertation do exist: administrative, technical and political.
Discussions start at the lower level (administrative, where the administration is represented by a Director or a person responsible for the Social Dialogue) and escalate, if an agreement is not found, at the higher levels (technical, where the administration is represented by the Director General of DG HR, and political, where the administration is represented by the Commissioner in charge of Staff and Administration).
The number of seats available to Trade Unions in concertation meetings is limited (normally to 25, in some cases to 15) and their distribution depends on the representativeness of each Trade Union.
6) Is participation to joint committees restricted to elected staff only?
NO. Any member of staff, independently from being elected as LSC staff representative or not, may be designated to any local or central joint committee, with the only exception of CSHT (Committee for Safety and Health at Work).
7) What is "representativeness"?
Representativeness is the overall "weight" of a Trade Union at local (Ispra/Seville) and central (the whole Commission) level. It is expressed by a percentage representing the quota of votes received during the latest LSC elections. This is the parameter used by the Administration to:
- set the amount of resources (offices, staff, time exemptions) to be granted to each Trade Union,
- set the number of seats available for Trade Unions during formal concertation meetings
In order to be "representative", a Trade Union must represent at least 5% of staff at local level and 6% of all Commission staff at central level, and have at least 400 paying members.
8) What are "time exemptions"?
Time exemptions are reductions of the working time that an official/agent has to carry out in his service of origin. A few elected staff, as well as staff particularly engaged in Trade Union activities, may receive "time exemptions".
Time exemptions may be granted for 25%, 50% or 100% of the working time.
During the last mandate, four R&D Ispra representatives received 25% time exemptions each (including the LSC President).
9) What is the difference between a full member and an alternate member?
The only differences between a full member and an alternate member are:
- alternate members have the right to vote in LSC plenary meetings only in case their respective full member is absent
- alternate members cannot be nominated as members of the LSC executive bureau - the governing body of the LSC - thus making it impossible for them to become President, Vice-President or Secretary of the LSC
- alternate members cannot be designated as full members at the Central Staff Committee
10) Who is responsible for discussions about the correction coefficient?
The correction coefficient falls under the remit of GTR (Groupe Tecnique Rémuneration).
GTR is NOT a joint committee and has nothing to do with the Local Staff Committee, which is in no way involved into any discussion concerning the correction coefficient.
GTR is composed by members of the administration and members of Trade Unions: it meets 3/4 times a year, and it's mainly a context where Eurostat results are presented, with very limited possibilities for Trade Unions to access detailed data underpinning the final results - thus making it virtually impossible to assess the correctness of what presented.
R&D, together with other Trade Unions, brought the issue of transparency and access to Eurostat detailed data to the court, unfortunately with no success.
