EDITO

It is the 16th of December 2010 that CERN Council has to conclude the five-year review in ruling on the proposals of the Director General in the area of salaries and health insurance, the only subjects selected for this exercise. The delegations of the Member States also seem determined to put into place at the same time a package of measures for the Pension Fund.

You recently heard a lot about an injection into the Pension Fund of 60 million CHF / year over 30 years paid by CERN to reach the objective of full funding by 2040. During our information meetings in the departments over the past two weeks, we gave you our opinion concerning this point. We also provided you with an update on the current status of the concertation process regarding the five-yearly review.

Your strong participation in these meetings, as well as your questions that followed our presentation, demonstrate your great interest in these subjects. As we have stated, the coming days and weeks will be decisive. We want that Management and the Member States hear the voice of the staff. It is important to preserve its strong motivation, supported by the LHC’s current virtuous circle, as evidenced by the enormous progress made by the large accelerator and its experiments in recent months.

For its part the CERN and ESO Pensioners Association is raising awareness amongst its members with a resolution.

Together, active staff and retirees, we must endeavour to obtain substantial improvements to the current proposals. The road is still long. We count on the support of all of you.

by Staff Association