R&D has decided to join forces with CISL, FFPE, SFIE, and U4U for the upcoming CLP elections. This means that we have formed and are part of one common list, No.3, together with these trade unions.

With the ongoing reform, joining forces and closing ranks is the only way to protect staff interests. This joint force guarantees that the opinion of those who are working in Ispra also counts at the central level, as the above-mentioned trade unions are united in Brussels as well. Europe is in the middle of a very serious economic crisis, and this has a huge impact on the negotiations of the New Staff Regulations. Times are getting tough and there is no time left for petty disputes among trade unions: UNITED WE ARE STRONGER!

Our collaboration already started in the past. Among many examples, a highlight was the Art.90 procedure followed by the legal action against the Correction Coefficient; 534 colleagues participated in this action! Our majority will continue this collaboration; open to all trade unions, also in the future.

Because a united defence of individual rights, the JRC and the European Commission is needed for all staff, at all levels, and should be carried out with dignity and mutual respect. We think that having 9 different trade unions at the Ispra site, is not the best way to defend staff. Our list guarantees a well balanced staff representation for everybody: women and men, with different types of contracts and from different origins and backgrounds are willing to collaborate to defend our common interests at a local and a central level. Attention: just put one cross on the top of the list. This single cross guarantees the best defence for your job security.

We believe that there will be a turbulent campaign. From our side we will distribute some material, e.g. our election programme, which you will receive this week. Please contact us immediately if you don't receive our programme before Friday 9 March. May we kindly ask you to talk to 2 colleagues in your neighbourhood and explain them the importance of a united defence of our work environment at this very difficult moment?

Yes, most important: We do kindly ask you to vote list 3.

With a view to the current European crises and the new CDR procedure, R&D Ispra organises for all staff a lecture from the perspective of a former HR specialist from the banking sector.

"Bonuses and appraisal procedures (e.g. CDR) are not well designed, de-motivate staff and do not lead to better performance"

The speaker

That is the opinion of Dr. Kilian Wawoe, a Human Resources specialist, who wrote his thesis on "bonuses & banking". Almost his whole professional life he worked for a big international bank in various places across Europe and Asia. In his last function as Head of Human Resources for west & south Europe. He discovered in his research project that what he was doing in his daily job, e.g. paying bonuses to bankers, was one of the reasons of the financial crisis. He left the bank in 2010 to become a professor and consultant on Performance Measurement & Reward. 

Whistleblower

As a whistleblower he flagged the risks of the bonus system, in- and later outside the company. Mr. Wawoe is a much acknowledged and frequently invited speaker. His aim is to achieve a mentality change in staff rewarding, in order to prevent that a huge majority of taxpayers have to pay for the benefits of a small minority. For example, the takeover of Banca AntonVeneta in Padova which was the beginning of the end for ABN-AMRO: the staff that completed the deal were rewarded huge bonuses, the tax-payers however lost EUR 20.000.000.000,-.

The lecture

Based on his experience, Kilian Wawoe will explain in an accessible and entertaining way what and how it went wrong. Furthermore he will address staff-rewarding systems in general from a socio psychological point of view. We would be very interested to hear his opinion on our rewarding system and especially in a research environment. So if you want to know how a wrong staff rewarding system created the problems we are all facing now, please attend the lecture. The lecture is free of charge and will be held in English.

 

When: 20th January 2012, h. 10.30

Another year has almost passed and you might be worried what 2012 will bring to you, your family and friends, Europe or maybe the whole world. It is definitely not the easiest moment. We all know that those who are against a possible regulation of the financial markets are as well the owners of the newspapers and TV channels. And, let’s not forget, a manipulated public is made believe by misleading media (often steered by the very profiteers of the current crisis) that it is good news when these nasty, overpaid and useless civil servants are getting punished.  

Where are R&D and the JRC standing in this complex situation?

As R&D Ispra we are aware of the importance and impact of the financial markets and we would welcome more JRC involvement in this issue. For this reason we have organised a presentation on the bonus and rewarding culture given by an external banking expert to all staff in the new Auditorium on Friday 20 January 2012 10:30.

Having been the leading force behind the harmonisation of the JRC administrative processes, the first Scientific Open Competitions ever and the move of the JRC to the heart of the Commission, we can conclude that at least for the moment, taking also very well into consideration what is happening "outside", we are not the worst off. That doesn't mean that we are happy with the way the JRC reorganisation was communicated to staff or that we will just accept the proposed changes of the staff regulations. The problem of the proposal for the new Staff  Regulations is the intention behind it and what the Council will do with it. If the modifications were proposed to improve the efficiency of the European Commission, reducing the costs at the same moment, it would have been easier to accept them. But we have the strong impression that the intention of the proposal is to weaken the European Institutions. However, what is happening didn't just come out of the sky; we informed you in our 2008 electoral programme under the Crystal Ball chapter. We guarantee that R&D will continue to defend your future, accepting compromises on, for example, working hours but strongly against a further abuse of temporary staff on permanent jobs or weird calculations of the Correction Coefficient.

Please find at this link the precise text of the appeal lodged by our lawyer Maître Orlandi, last Monday (24/10) to the Civil Service Tribubal against the incomprehensible evolution of the 2010 Correction Coefficient Varese.

We hope that you understand that it is impossible for us to translate it in English and Italian. However, we are available to answer to any question you may have on this subject.

We would like to thank explicitly the "father" of this dossier Paul Nauwelaers, for all the work done and everybody who participated or sent us useful documentation.