Becoming a Staff Delegate: Why not you?

My status and my position as Delegate

By becoming a Staff Delegate your job will be to represent the personnel, on the one hand by serving as a social link between the personnel (from your electoral college) and the Association, and on the other hand by defending the individual rights and social benefits of all CERN personnel.

Through your active participation in the Association's activities, you work to improve the social conditions of all the members of personnel of the Organisation.

My role

As a delegate, you will have a role which implies that you bring up the demands of the personnel towards the Association and that you participate in the working sessions dealing with all the concerns of the personnel. This even implies that, you explain to our colleagues the decisions of the Staff Council, and even encourage and popularize mobilizations for actions adapted to critical situations between the personnel and the management.

My means of action

By becoming a staff delegate, you will obtain a status, recognized by the Staff Regulations and Rules and specified in the Association's Statutes. As such, you assume an important function, involving a minimum of 10% of your working time.

This time is split between your work devoted to consultation and information of the personnel within your college and your work within the Association's bodies (Staff Council, committees, events, etc.).

For the first part, you are authorized to move across the geographical area of your electoral college (often the department, sometimes more) for your concertation work. You will have all the sources of information and training available within the Association, as well as the support of your more-experienced delegate colleagues.

In this respect, a form of mentoring will be set up to help you in your mission.

How can I become a delegate?

Once the Association receives your application for the position of Delegate via the secretariat, you will have a possibility to meet the actors in place and get informed.

First of all, you will meet with the members of the Executive Committee to discuss the subject. Then it is through a collective information session, before the election every two years, that you will meet other candidates and receive general information. You will then be able to contact the InFormAction committee or the secretariat, who will be able to provide you with any additional information you may require. Finally, you will be able to finalize your application form.

My responsibility

The personnel of your electoral college entrusts you with the responsibility of representing them in the SA's bodies, and expects you to contribute to the considerable work that the SA carries out on a daily basis, especially within the different commissions.

You will also be responsible for representing the personnel in the Staff Council, expressing its wishes and ensuring that its demands are respected during the deliberations.

Within the committees, you will be asked to actively participate in the working meetings, giving your opinion, bringing your ideas, defending the social principles and preserving the previous achievements.

Will I be the right person for this role?

Every candidate has asked themselves this question before making the move. Today, there is enough information for you to decide to join the SA.

If that were not enough, we encourage you to meet with the current delegate(s) at your college, whom you may know, especially your Department Delegate, who can help you to complete the information you have.

In any case, "practice makes perfect" and it is only through total and unreserved immersion that you will be able to ensure your mission as a delegate. You will always have colleagues by your side connected by affinity, because you will have to share an extremely formative experience.

At this point, the question is no longer, whether you are the right person, but whether you will have enough tenacity to hold on to your role on a long-term basis.

Will I get training to help me?

Once elected, you will immerse yourself in the process during the December “Assises” meeting. You will then have the opportunity to enrol for the various training sessions that will be offered.

These trainings will allow you, for example, to feel more comfortable during the meetings, to be more secure in tense discussions or negotiations, to know how to share your opinion, to speak in public, etc.

These training courses are planned either as part of the general training at CERN or as part of your specific activity within the Association.

In any case, it can be noted or even recognized in your annual MERIT and will give you valuable tools for your future career at the SA and at CERN.

How can I get recognition for my work within the Association?

Ten percent of your time is an important part of your functions at CERN. Therefore, it is the Association’s wish to value your work within our Association.

That is why a letter is sent at the beginning of each year stating your roles and responsibilities within the SA.

Other than that, what do I get out of being a part of the SA?

Any delegate who has made a significant contribution to the SA will tell you how admiring and impressed they were with the amount of work, friendliness, and efficiency of the SA's “actors”. Many of them were happy to have been able to contribute to the Association but also to the Organization.

For many, it was a possibility to learn many things, to manage their time better, to be more efficient, to dialogue, to negotiate without being only demanding, to be tolerant or to be able to function in a team with enthusiasm by being a good listener. Some of them revealed to be a driving force in a group and to explore for themselves and for the community the social sides often reputed to be unpleasant, that we tend to forget in our work. Some of them have also become, in certain commissions, familiar with difficult official publications and efficient “decoders” of difficult legal texts.

Everyone was proud to participate in a work that is more of a "social laboratory" than a trade union, a party or a workers committee. Working with an efficient and motivated team is probably the most rewarding experience one can have in the SA and its Staff Council.

by Staff Association