Elections of employee delegates – Become a member, get involved and vote!

Elections of employee delegates – Become a member, get involved and vote!

The Association's Staff Council is renewed every two years. This year, in October, elections will be held for your employee delegates for the 2020-2021 term. 

The number of positions to be filled is 50:

  • 45 positions to represent the incumbents;
  • 5 positions to represent fellows and associated staff members (Users, Project Associates, among others).

These 50 positions are open to members of personnel who are also members of the CERN Staff Association.

In addition to these 50 positions, there are also 7 pensioners' delegates appointed by GAC-EPA outside this electoral process.

It is essential for the Organization to have a balanced and diversified representation on the Staff Council, including delegates from all departments and units, all professional categories and all opinions.

What is the mandate of the Staff Association?

The mandate of the Association is defined in Article I.1.2 of the Statutes of the CERN Staff Association.

The primary mission of the Association is to "serve  and  defend  the  economic,  social,  professional  and  moral  interests  of  its  members and all CERN  staff, with particular  reference to the observance of the Staff Rules and all the statutory texts arising therefrom, as well as the  improvement of employment,  working, safety and welfare conditions in the widest possible sense".

But the missions of safeguarding the rights and defending the interests of the families of CERN personnel and those of the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund, promoting good relations between CERN members of personnel and other staff

working on the site, participating with the Council of the Organization and the Director-General in the search for and implementation of the means to fulfil the Organization's mission as defined by the Constitutive Convention should also be highlighted.

Article VII 1.01 of the Staff Regulations and Rules (SR&R) further stipulates that "Independently of the hierarchical channels, the relations between the Director-General and the personnel shall be established either on an individual basis or on a collective basis with the Staff Association as intermediary".

As mentioned in our last issue of ECHO, the essential role of the Staff Association as the representative of all the Organization's personnel to the Director-General and Member States is reflected in its considerable and diversified work, with active participation in the various joint committees defined in the Staff Rules and Regulations but also in all working groups and official bodies dealing with staff matters.

What is the role of the staff delegate?

The role of the staff delegate1 is essential because he or she will participate in the meetings of the Staff Council, whose mission includes determining the broad lines of the Association’s policy, supervising its implementation by the Executive Committee, electing the Executive Committee and convening an ordinary or extraordinary General Assembly.  He or she will also be the point of contact and link between the members of personnel and the Staff Association and will have to advise or guide his or her colleagues according to the issues they encounter.

Being a staff delegate also means participating in the work of at least one of the internal committees of the Staff Association on specific topics (pension, social protection, conditions of employment, health and safety, legal issues, drafting articles or dealing with questions of information and training) and thus sharing ideas and proposals, but also being mandated by the Association to participate in the work of official bodies of the Organisation or various working groups. 

But being a representative is first and foremost about serving and defending the personnel and being an active citizen of the Organization by contributing to the revision and writing of its laws (Operational & Administrative Circulars) and processes.

Becoming a delegate is also a personal and professional development

Becoming a delegate is surely also an enrichment that finds its application in his other professional activities:

-              Discover other aspects of the Organization than those previously encountered;

-              Acquire new skills through new roles and activities profitable in all areas of its activities at CERN; and

-              Meet new colleagues.

Who can be a delegate? How to register for the next elections?

All Employed members of personnel (MPE), fellows and Associated members of personnel (MPA), who are also members of the Staff Association, can sign up and apply from September 3 at 8 a.m. until October 11 at 5 p.m (click on this link).

You will then have three weeks, from October 21 to November 11, to choose your delegates. In order to participate in the election of your delegates, you must be a member of the Staff Association.

If this is not yet the case, these elections give you the opportunity to become a member, especially since the membership for the 2019 calendar year is free of charge as from September 1, 2019.

Taking part in the elections of your delegates in the Staff Council means choosing from among the candidates the persons best able to represent you.

It also means participating in a democratic exercise within the Organization.

Announcement of the results and implementation of the new Staff Council

At the end of November, in early December, the Election Commission following the election process will officially announce the election results in the ECHO newspaper.

It is through this announcement that you will be able to identify your delegates in your college; they will always be available to you during their term of office.

Become a member, get involved and vote!

Join and vote, it is the least you can do for your Organization, for your fellow staff members.

Get involved for your Organization, for your Electoral College colleagues, for CERN staff and, more generally, for the CERN community!

Become a delegate!

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[1] Art. V.1.2 of the Staff Association Statues

 

 

 

 

by Staff Association