Some staff members of the interpreting service of the European Parliament have been requisitioned to ensure interpretation for all debates of the plenary session underway in Strasbourg, despite ongoing disagreements between the administration of the European institution and the representatives of the interpreters, who have been on strike since Tuesday 5 June (see EUROPE 12038).
As Parliament's administration has failed to reach an agreement with the unions, the requisitions will cover all of the plenary debates, a union source told EUROPE on Tuesday 12 June. They will represent 39.24% (279 interpreters) of the total requirement on Tuesday 12 June, 37.64% (265) on Wednesday 13 June and 60.75% (226) on Thursday 14 June. Similarly, a reserve of personnel has been made up to deal with contingencies.
The interpreters' work stoppages will concern only the meetings of the political groups. However, during both plenary debates and internal meetings of the Parliament, the interpreters will not be working beyond the agreed hours. Leaflets have been distributed in Strasbourg and messages read out in the booths to explain the social movement underway.
"Work stoppages of one or two hours are possible in all parliamentary meetings. We were planning to adopt a progressive approach in the implementation of the work stoppages, in the hope that the problem would be resolved without disturbing Parliamentary activity too much; however, mass requisitions of interpreters in plenary, which was carried out by the administration against the explicit opinion of the unions and in breach of the elementary principles of social dialogue, force us to take a less flexible approach", said Dominiek Decoutere, coordinator of the inter-union committee of the Parliament, in an email sent out to all staff.
On Tuesday, the European Public Service Union (EPSU) gave its backing to the current strike action at the Parliament. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)