THE EUROPEAN TRADE-UNION CONFEDERATION (CSE) ALSO REPRESENTED IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT !

On 17 June at the JRC Ispra (Joint Research Centre of Ispra, Italy),an agreement was concluded between the European trade-union  Confederation (CSE) represented by Marco Gemelli, the CISL Fir,  represented by Paolo Negro, the Conf-SFE represented by René- Pierre Koch, and the trade union "Union for Brussels (UB)", active in the European  Parliament and represented by its President Ed Van Koolwijk. The enlargement of the Confederation by  the membership of the Union for Brussels (UB) gives an inter-institutional dimension  to the CSE, which now comprises 3 trade unions: Conf-SFE, CISL Fir,and the Unionfor Brussels(UB) .

The Conf-SFE and the CISL Fir, which is present at the JRC in Ispra, in Karlsruhe, and in the CERN in Geneva are pleased that the Confederation has a new member. This will allow the Confederation to  broaden the services offered to the members of the various trade unions and will strengthen the presence of the CSE in the various social dialogue channels , both in the Commission and in the European Parliament.

The advantages of this new strengthening of the Confederation will already be visible at the time of the election campaign for the social elections of 2010 in the European Parliament. The Union for Brussels (UB) will benefit from the positive experience gained by the Conf-SFE at the time of the social elections of 2009 in the Commission, where it achieved an excellent result, and obtained the presidency of the Brussels Local Staff Committee (LSC).

web s ite UB :  www.unionbru.eu     ( under construction)   

For a staff appraisal system which is an effective human resources management instrument

Joint statement of Conf-SFE and U4U/USHU (RS)

Despite its rejection by the staff and in the absence of a credible alternative, the CDR exercise was continued in 2010 with only limited changes to the appeals procedure. It is obvious that the CDR system should have been replaced by an appraisal system which is a proper management instrument and does not give rise to rejections and other perverse effects. The Commission promises us a new system for 2011, while wanting to open and to conclude negotiations with the OSPs by the end of June 2010!! This would be the 4^th system in 10 years!

The staff appraisal system can be a useful management tool but to do that it has to take into account and to reflect the type of organization and environment in which the staff would like to work. The failure of the successive CDR systems is particularly due to the subordination of the evaluation exercise to the role of a tool for promotion. For this reason staff thinks that the CDR exercise treats them like children or even sees it as a violent process directed against them instead of a tool for encouragement and motivation. This is valid for the staff concerned but also for management who has to carry out the appraisals. In addition, the failure of the system is also related to the non-participatory method of its introduction

It is now time for that to change. Firstly it is necessary to establish an impartial report on the current practices and their shortcomings, taking into account the nature of the institution and the values it wants to promote. Secondly, contrary to the previous reforms, the staff has to be strongly involved in the various stages of this necessary reform as mentioned in the message of the trade-union majority to Vice-President Šefčovič. It is only through "ownership" of a new system by the staff that it will be possible to break the vicious circle of successive changes of the systems of appraisal and promotion.

We will not accept any new system without the effective involvement of the staff in its design and its implementation. It is exactly for this reason that the Conf-SFE and U4U/USHU (RS) have started to organize a participative process (discussion in small, intensive groups) known as "participatory leadership". It is an imperative for the trade unions but also for the institution to create a new system with the involvement of the staff personnel in its development. Our organizations will work together in this direction with the trade union majority and those who share this approach.

To summarize, we ask:

- that work should begin as soon as possible on changing and improving the system;

- that the whole staff be involved in the design of a new appraisal/promotion system with the help and the cooperation of the OSPs, while agreeing to devote the time necessary to satisfactorily complete this exercise;

- that the appropriate steps be taken to ensure that staff arrive at a feeling of "ownership" of the revised appraisal/promotion  system which will be set up.