ECB staff union sues central bank over gag orders

The unofficial staff union of the European Central Bank is suing the ECB for a series of “intimidation letters” sent to its representatives.

In a press release published on October 20, Ipso explained that it is taking the central bank to court over its attempts to restrict staff and trade union members from speaking up about “matters of legitimate staff and trade-union interest”.

Ipso alleged that the letters – which were first addressed to staff committee chair and union representative Carlos Bowles and later to the entire Ipso board – were a result of Bowles responding to questions about an unofficial, union-run survey that showed six in 10 respondents did not trust Christine Lagarde’s leadership of the ECB.

ECB staff have two bodies representing them, Ipso and the staff committee, but the bank only recognises the latter as an official representative body. The ECB has already sought to change the rules governing the staff committee, which Bowles said would weaken the committee. The committee said the action was a “clear retaliation” over the survey, while the bank said the changes would improve staff representation.

While the two bodies strongly overlap, as seven out of nine committee members are from Ipso, Central Banking understands that the staff committee is more limited in its powers compared with a full-fledged union. The ECB’s status as an extraterritorial institution means that it does not have to meet wider European Union standards of collective representation.

“The ECB has a long history of refusing to align its internal social dialogue with EU standards, notably when it comes to recognise the right to collective bargaining and the applicability of the EU directive on social matters and ILO [International Labour Organization] conventions,” Ipso said in its statement today.

The statement said the letters came from the ECB’s chief services officer, Myriam Moufakkir. They alleged that Bowles had gone too far with his comments to a journalist covering the Ipso survey and, in doing so, breached his loyalty to the institution and damaged its reputation.

“The letters also asserted that staff and union representatives must not speak publicly about the ECB’s ‘culture of fear’ and its potential impact on the operations, including the forecasting work, of the institution,” Ipso wrote today.

Ipso said that in its view, Moufakkir’s letters “constitute unlawful interference with the freedom of expression and association of staff and their representatives”, adding that these rights were protected under both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The union added that it was concerned over the first two letters having been specifically addressed to Bowles, which undermined “the union’s collective voice”. It noted that Bowles did not have a “chance to be heard” before being issued a gag order, adding that the chief services officer’s letters “heavily misrepresented his statements”.

“The ECB has attempted to shield itself from judicial review by claiming that the letters were ‘mere clarifications’ rather than formal decisions which could be open to a legal challenge, while their intimidating effect clearly remains,” Ipso said, adding that it has since had to cancel media interviews out of fear of retaliation.

The union said that the bank’s effort to silence its internal critics “undermines the integrity of the institution and damages its credibility”.

An ECB spokesperson said: “We do not comment on court cases pending or otherwise. The ECB is firmly committed to the freedom of expression and the rule of law, operating within a clear employment framework that is closely aligned with EU Staff Regulations and is subject to European Court of Justice scrutiny. The ECB encourages an internal culture of speaking up, and offers multiple channels, including an anonymous whistleblowing tool, for staff to raise any issues. These channels are in place to ensure that any unacceptable behaviour is investigated and addressed swiftly.”

Update: This story has been amended since publication to add a comment from an ECB spokesperson.