Upcoming change at the head of the Staff Association
Alessandro Raimondo, President of the Staff Association, has decided to tender his resignation to the Staff Council effective from 31 August 2016. “You know that the Pension Fund is my passion, and I have chosen to follow my heart,” he declared in a statement sent to the Staff Council on 22 June.
In fact, in a session held on 16 June 2016, the CERN Council elected Alessandro Raimondo as the Vice-Chairman of the Pension Fund Governing Board. Following this election, Alessandro was compelled to choose between the Pension Fund and his role as the President of the Staff Association.
According to the statutes of the Staff Association, resignation of the President results in the resignation of the Bureau and the Executive Committee. In a meeting held on 5 July 2016, the Staff Council thus decided on the following timetable and modalities for the election of the new Executive Committee:
- Wednesday 13 July: deadline for submission of lists for election;
- Tuesday 19 July: meeting of the Staff Council - presentation of the lists and programs in session; video-recording of the presentations accessible online; opening of the electronic vote for the duration of two weeks.
- Tuesday 2 August: meeting of the Staff Council - closing of the electronic vote and proclamation of the results.
Using an electronic vote is not common practice for the Staff Council, but given the circumstances this voting arrangement was considered the most appropriate. Since the election is held during the holiday period, gathering all Council members for an election would have been a tall order.
The new Executive Committee is expected to take over the responsibilities of the current team during the month of August.
Even though Alessandro will no longer be the President, he will remain a devoted member of the Association, working as a staff delegate and a representative of the Staff Association in the Pension Fund. The Staff Council would like to take this opportunity to thank Alessandro in advance for all the work he put forward during the first eight months of 2016 as the head of the Staff Association, and for the contributions he will make in his new role in the Pension Fund Governing Board.
The composition of the new Executive Committee and the Bureau of the Staff Association will be presented in an article in an August issue of Echo.
