Tuesday, 28 May 2019, Ordinary General Assembly of the CERN Staff Association
Ideas, open debates and votes
The CERN Staff Association held its General Assembly on Tuesday 28 May 2019. As every year, this is the ideal time to meet the team at the helm of the Staff Association, to learn about the activities and successes of the past year, but also about the work programme for the coming year. It is also at the General Assembly that important decisions are taken democratically by a vote of all members present.
We are pleased to have been able to count on a significant increase in the number of participants this year.
Thibaut Lefèvre, appointed by the Staff Council, chaired the meeting.
First important subject: Amendment of the Staff Association's Statutes
Ghislain Roy, President of the Association, began by presenting the proposed amendment concerning the principle of membership in the Staff Association. From now on, all new employed members of personnel (MPE), become members de facto as soon as they take up their duties, but with the possibility of withdrawal within 100 days. This proposal, already presented in the Echo n°313 of 29 April 2019, raised several questions and objections in the room.
Ghislain Roy stated that the withdrawal within 100 days is not definitive and that any member of personnel could decide at any time to join or resign from the Association.
Regarding questions centering on the motivation for this change, Ghislain Roy replied that times have changed and it is difficult to interest members of personnel on limited-duration contracts in the topics covered by the Association. As a result, awareness of representativeness is lower nowadays. Ghislain recalled that the main mission of the Staff Association, enshrined in the Staff Rules and Regulations of the Organization, is to represent and defend the staff, all of the staff!
The Staff Association will launch a communication campaign to inform the personnel arriving at CERN in advance of their automatic membership in the Association.
The proposal was approved by a majority of the votes, but with significant opposition.
Activity report 2018
The meeting continued and Isabelle Mardirossian, Vice-President of the Association, presented the 2018 activity report.
The main lines of this report covered:
1. Reminder of the principles of “Concertation”;
2. The results of the 2015 Five-Yearly Review, namely the package concerning the reduction of the advancement budget from 2.1 to 1.6%, the loss in advancement, the introduction of certain diversity measures, the Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE), the introduction of career development interviews and the development of internal mobility, the reduced use of the Equity budget in 2017 and 2018, as well as the exceptional extension by one year of the next Five-Yearly-Review, postponed until 2021;
3. The work was carried out within the CERN working groups, the sub-groups of the Standing Concertation Committee (CCP) and the Pension Fund, on a diverse range of subjects such as Mobility within CERN sites, Data protection, Stress management, Pension guarantee in the event of the dissolution of the Organisation, revision of the CHIS regulations, Governance of the Pension Fund, the situation of "Le Jardin des Particules" and its future displacement as a result of the Science Gateway, etc;
4. The number of meetings and topics discussed within CERN's Official bodies such as the Standing Concertation Committee (CCP), the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF) and other committees and commissions.
Financial report and provisional budget
Nicolas Salomon, Treasurer of the Association, first presented the 2018 financial report, then the 2019 provisional budget, which was adopted unanimously by the members present, with one abstention.
The Association has expressed its willingness to diversify investments, with a focus on ethical and sustainable investments in response to a comment received at the 2018 General Assembly. The Staff Association will present a detailed proposal at next year's session.
Work programme 2019
Ghislain Roy continued with the presentation of the work programme for 2019, which essentially covered: the follow-up and termination of the 2015 Five-yearly-review, the strengthening of the Concertation process, the protection of personal data, actuarial reviews, elections to the Staff Council, and the preparation of the next Five-Yearly-Review.
Votes of the members of the Association present
The members of the Staff Association present approved by a majority or by a unanimous vote:
1. The 2018 Activity Report ;
2. The 2018 Financial report and the Report of the auditors;
3. The provisional budget for 2019;
4. The 2019 contribution rates, unchanged for several years;
5. The proposal for amendments to the Staff Association's Statutes concerning the principle of automatic membership in the SA for new arrivals with the possibility of withdrawal.
We would like to thank once again all those who participated in this General Assembly.
Your large presence is essential because it allows you to decide on the actions of the Staff Association.
We hope to see even more of you next year!
For more details, do not hesitate to consult all the presentations available on Indico (https://indico.cern.ch/event/820415/)
AND DON'T FORGET THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: JOIN US!
