CSAIO - a tool on the move for the staff associations of international organizations and European agencies
Every year, in autumn, the CSAIO (Conference of Staff Associations of International Organizations) conference takes place over two days; this conference is only for the Staff Associations of International Organizations, mainly based in Europe, as well as for European Agencies.
Creation, goals and developments
CSAIO, created by the CERN and OECD Staff Associations in 2000, allows some 30 staff associations to share their experiences and ideas in a common goal to better understand the expectations and aspirations of staff working in international and European organizations.
Over time, the conference process has evolved to accommodate the demands of staff representatives from different backgrounds. For the past three years, the informal follow-up, during the first half-day of the conference, of the themes discussed the previous year, has been institutionalized. This monitoring makes possible to share the implementation and impacts of 
certain proposals in the speakers' respective organizations or agencies. This debriefing will be an integral part of the conference from next year onwards.
The other three half-days are reserved for a particular theme, treated in the form of three or four presentations of 15 to 20 minutes each followed by questions allowing everyone to take ownership of the issues and practices presented by the speakers in their organizations or agencies. Then some discussions take place to share the experiences and ideas of all participants on the topics discussed. Staff Associations are often a source of proposals and progress.
All presentations and legal analyses can be found on the CSAIO website, which includes all the presentations since the first conference held at the OECD in 2000.
CSAIO 20 on 14 and 15 October 2019 at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich
The 3 topical themes addressed this year were:
- Internal justice system;
- Diversity; and
- Consultation process of Staff Associations / union and employer organizations
Following the various presentations, discussions closely related to the different themes, and sometimes from a little further away, revealed concerns that are common to the different organizations.
Currently, the reform of internal justice systems occupies several organizations, including CERN. The internal justice systems specific to international organizations are very important in resolving conflicts between staff and the organization, as this is the only way to resolve a dispute given the impossibility of resorting to national courts. The UN's dual system of justice (ILOAT versus UNDT, UNAT) poses a serious problem of coherence between numerous tribunals that are called upon to judge identical cases. We also note that recent years have seen an explosion of conflict cases that have ended for CERN before ILOAT. The systems of internal justice that are activated before bringing the case before the ILOAT also raises the question of their independence as they are mostly managed within the organization itself most of the time without any external intervention.
Diversity is also at the heart of the concerns of management and staff representation. A well-conceived diversity policy adapted to the main activity of the organization must make it possible to recruit and retain people of the highest competence while guaranteeing a cultural and multinational distribution of staff. Diversity will remain at the heart of the debate for several coming years, because important progress still needs to be made in this very important area.
The processes, for staff representation consultation that for CERN are geared towards Concertation, should make it possible to do the utmost to reach agreement on a common position on matters relating to the conditions of employment of staff. This long-established process, which is of the highest importance, must take place in a spirit of mutual respect between the parties. It is essential for the proper functioning of an international organization in a peaceful social climate. It must also make it possible to limit also the use of the tools of justice that we mentioned in the first session of the conference.
Next conference in 2020 at CERN
The CSAIO21 conference was scheduled to take place at CERN on 5-6 November 2020. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to produce its negative effects on the holding of events where relations between colleagues representing staff are an important part, it was decided by the Scientific Committee to change the format of the conference this year. In order to avoid an outright cancellation, and to allow everyone to continue to build relationships with other staff representatives, a videoconference will be organized on 6 November. This will consist of two sessions where only one theme will be addressed.
The single theme will be related to the constraints and opportunities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic that has changed the way we all work.
Let us hope that 2021 will see the conference resume in its original form, which allows all staff representatives to meet in a single location to maximize the exchanges that are often a source of ideas and innovations necessary for the smooth running of our organizations.
