BRUSSELS (AFP): European Central Bank staff have lodged a complaint with an EU court over below-inflation salary rises, even as the institution warns a pick-up in eurozone wage gains could fuel price rises.
The appeal lodged at the EU’s General Court by about 40 ECB staff, supported by their union IPSO, seeks to overturn the central bank’s decision to grant a 4.07 percent rise in January, according to a document seen by AFP.
At the time, eurozone inflation was almost double that figure.
The salary dispute between the ECB and its several thousand employees has been simmering for over a year, and their union has even threatened to strike.
The staff’s appeal relates to the formula that the Frankfurt-based ECB uses to calculate salary increases.
In its calculations, the ECB looks at salary increases in more than 20 central banks and institutions in Europe.
The list includes the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, which pays in staff in Swiss francs — a currency that has strengthened substantially against the euro.
But by failing to convert these Swiss francs into euros when they make their calculation, the ECB’s final figure for pay rises is too low, the plaintiffs argue.
“The ECB has been adding apples with pears by refusing to convert the salary figures into the same currencies before computing the average salary increase,” according to a message from IPSO to staff.
This amounts to “gross negligence”, the union argued.
An ECB spokeswoman said the central bank foresaw a higher pay increase for 2024, of around 4.7 percent, pending consultation with staff.
The formula for calculating salaries was “currently under review”, the spokeswoman added.
