OGBL demands more transparency and a clear framework for social dialogue in the European Schools

The OGBL is fighting at both national and international level to ensure that the rights of employees of the European Schools, whose working conditions are governed by service regulations drawn up by the Board of Governors sitting in Brussels, are respected. These regulations, which are in conflict with the various national laws in a number of respects, are the source of several inconsistencies – also in Luxembourg – particularly with regard to locally recruited teachers, who have for years suffered a series of intolerable injustices and inequalities. In this context and in order to improve the situation of all the staff of these schools, the OGBL calls for a better collaboration with the trade unions and more transparency on the part of the Board of Governors, as well as the respect and application of Luxembourg labour law, including the rules defining social dialogue at national level.

In Luxembourg, the OGBL is on the ground to defend its members and advise its delegates in their daily work. The OGBL notes that the rights and interests of the staff of the European Schools in Luxembourg are often called into question with regard to the management of working time, remuneration or the rights and tasks of the staff delegations. The European School in Bertrange/Mamer, for example, decided unilaterally that locally recruited teachers would no longer be counted as part of the staff delegation, even though these employees have a Luxembourg employment contract and pay their taxes and social security contributions in Luxembourg. Given that the locally recruited teachers represent a considerable number of employees in this school, the OGBL considers this decision intolerable since it will have the direct effect of weakening the staff delegation, by drastically reducing the number of delegates to be elected in the next social elections as well as the credit of hours available to the delegation. A complaint has been lodged in this context with the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (ITM). Furthermore, the OGBL continues to demand the application of national law for all staff under Luxembourg employment contracts!

The OGBL collaborates with the different national unions in Belgium, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, where the European schools are located. It also acts within the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), which is an essential body for the exchange of information and the coordination of actions to improve the social dialogue within the education structure at international level. ETUCE is a trade union federation of 125 education unions representing almost 11 million members from all European countries. This trade union federation coordinates the unions which organize the educational staff of the 13 existing European Schools. For the OGBL, the proper functioning of the European Schools system can only be ensured by a transparent sharing of financial and human resources with ETUCE. This is why the OGBL believes that the participation of the ETUCE as an observer in the Board of Governors of European Schools would guarantee an effective representation of teachers in the Member States concerned and thus contribute to a more inclusive management of the resources and workforce of these schools.

Communicated by the OGBL’s Education and Science Syndicate (SEW),
1 February 2023