Local agents of the diplomatic service rush into the stretchers
Local agents of the European diplomatic service (EEAS) will be on the streets on Thursday to demand a more decent status, particularly in terms of social protection. Some European trade unions call for a demonstration on February 24 (at 12:30 p.m.) in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels (the Berlaymont)
Indispensable people
Local agents number 3500 people. They are the ones who run the EU delegations around the world, performing a number of functions (secretariat, guards, drivers but also advisers, etc.) not performed by civil servants. The advantage for the European authority (and the Member States) is that they are not subject to the statute of the European function... and are not paid the same salary (the salary they receive is on the other hand largely higher than local wages).
The weak point: social protection
Not all agents benefit from medical coverage after leaving the delegation. And the amount of the pension is sometimes very low: the unions mention the amount of 35 euros. Finally the "salary adjustment method for local staff is not applied for several years in delegations". THE "salary adjustments were not made in delegation".
A little more consideration, please?
But what local agents are also asking for is a little more consideration. "The European Commission and the EEAS do not consider local agents as persons to be respected." Thus the unions denounce that in the event of a crisis, "local agents are left to their own devices, where their lives are in danger" citing the example of Belgrade during the bombardments, they fear that the operation will be repeated in Afghanistan "in case the Taliban returns to power".
You write: “the salary they receive is on the other hand much higher than the local salaries”. Be careful not to generalize! While this is undeniable in the poorest countries, it is not necessarily true in middle-income or emerging countries. In some cases, the Delegations are able to attract well-trained young people for a first job, but not to keep them because they can find much better salaries in the private sector. The situation is therefore very different from one country to another and it would be very interesting to have quantified examples of this diversity.
….Giving example of wages:
a simple titular civil servant receives at least a salary of 3000 Euros, and does practically nothing, while a Local Agent who works and who sometimes teaches others, and also who works in multi-tasking, without the slightest right receives a salary of less than 400 or less than 300 euros.
Why not review it all? Well, that's going to displease the others who benefit from this great anarchy.
Adding that even these lousy salaries are distributed without equality between these Agents!
Judge...and laugh...