NO to sacrificing future staff!
During our public meetings last week, we reviewed several subjects. However, the most urgent one today is the 2nd package of measures for our Pension Fund. In our previous issue, we devoted a long article to the Management’s plan for staff recruited from January 2012. A disaster!
As we announced at our meetings, the Staff Association will organize a referendum at the beginning of April. For the message to be heard it is vital that as many staff as possible take part. By voting you will express your support to your staff representatives to stand in the way of these unacceptable measures. It is a matter of urgency that the staff makes their voice heard. Time is short, the decisions will be made in June. The future of our Organization is as stake. This is our future colleagues we are talking about. We must prevent this sacrifice. They must be welcomed in such a manner that there is no uneasiness between us. They must be made to feel welcome in their new family, CERN, our CERN.
That they should pay an entrance fee is acceptable, but it should be a reasonable one. No one can dispute it: we must save our Pension Fund and future generations should also play their part, but never be sacrificed for it.
Though this is what the Management envisages in its plan. These measures are an injustice and make future generations pay for past problems.
With which consequences?
- First, introducing the worst pension scheme of all International Organizations
- Second, creating a second-class staff category.
- Third, undermining CERN’s attractiveness as an employer, thus jeopardizing the excellence of its staff who have made its reputation and hoisted it to the position of world leader in high-energy physics.
So, what have we done to deserve this? Does it make sense to treat the staff in this way after the proud results of our Organization? No.
Appealing to the solidarity of our future colleagues is acceptable, but with reason, by respecting them, in the interest of CERN today and in the long run.
By voting in the referendum, we will all be conveying to the Management and Member States a clear message: NO to sacrificing future staff.
