Thank you Geel! – The results.

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Meet our candidates

We are 9 candidates for the Geel LSC elections affiliated with Generation 2004.

We are representing a wide range of Commission staff in terms of professional category, gender balance and also geographical distribution. We are looking forward to contributing to the Geel Local Staff Committee.

You are invited to get to know us: 

I have been working for 18 years for the JRC Geel site administration, R.6 unit; first in HR area (Training and Welcome/Farewell office), since a few years in the Document Management.

In my private life I am mama of 3 teenagers. I love good books, films, and music. I also like spending time with my family and friends, traveling, cooking, walking with my dogs.

Why do I want to apply to the LSC?

Fairness, respect, equal treatment are crucial values for employees and employee’s motivation to provide the best results is often proportional to their awareness of being treated by their employer as a valuable individual.

Being a part of the Local Staff Committee gives a feeling that with joint forces we can improve what needs improvement, and we can influence positively the well-being and satisfaction of all of us.

I would like to continue contributing actively to this positive change and being currently a LSC deputy member I have decided to candidate again because there is always something that we can try to make working better.

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My background is in applied physics and metrology from Gothenburg University, and professionally the Swedish National Measurement Institute SP, (now RISE). As you can see, we in JRC are not alone in changing names now and then. 🙂 

I joined the then IM unit in Geel as a temporary agent in 2005 with emphasis on precision weighing. After I passed an AST concourse, I worked in Karlsruhe with radiation protection 2010-2013. However, I was interested to return to Geel and when a position opened I transferred back. At present, I work mainly with mass spectrometry, quality management weighing and several other tasks in G.II.6. 

Privately I have no family, but many friends, and an interest in a variety of things. Old machinery, instruments and astronomy are some of my main interests. 

By having relatively long experience and good network connections on the site, I think I can contribute to the Local Staff Committee. With the backing from Generation 2004, we are strong in staff issues that cannot be solved locally. I also noticed that there is room for improvement regarding career paths, especially for ASTs and CAs, something Generation 2004 works to promote.

 

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I have a background in physical chemistry, with professional experience in pharmaceuticals, organic semiconductors, and radioisotopes. In 2020, I joined the Target Preparation Group at JRC-GEEL as a Contract Agent. Currently, I serve as a Radioactive Waste Officer in F.001. Outside of my career, I enjoy practicing Pilates and yoga, as well as participating in social activities like board games.

I wish to join the Local Staff Committee because I strongly believe that by acting together, we have the power to voice our needs and hopes for the future. Collectively, our efforts can lead to positive change within the organization.

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My journey at JRC-Geel (IRMM) began 11 years ago, when I moved to Belgium and started in the RADMET group as a postdoctoral environmental engineer specialized in radioecology. I spent there three wonderful years (2013-2016) contributing to the Institute’s mission. In 2020, I rejoined the JRC as a Contract Agent in Directorate F, with the privilege of working closely with many of you, particularly in my roles as Quality Manager for the Directorate and supporting our site Director in all quality management related aspects.

Outside of work, I am a proud parent to my daughter, Viola, and I also have the pleasure of contributing to the Hungarian community in Belgium and leading a Hungarian folkdance group in Brussels, the Viola Dance Ensemble (what a coincidence with the names 😊).

What drives me to (re)join the Local Staff Committee is my deep conviction in the power of community. I firmly believe that together, we can achieve so much more than we can alone. I would like to contribute to strengthening our staff community, fostering a sense of belonging and support among us. I am committed to building bridges and promoting collaboration.

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I am a computational physicist with strong background in experimental nuclear and elementary particle physics. I’ve been working in JRC since 2020 as a CA in G.II.6 unit. I have a small loving family, sharing together the same passion to oceans and everything water-related, taking every opportunity to sail big seas.

Becoming a member of the Local Staff Committee is essential for fostering an environment of equality and fairness within our organization. A system with checks and balances is needed for decisions that do not always reflect the needs and concerns of the workforce.

By joining the Committee, I would like to promote transparency and openness in our workplace, especially for decisions having significant impact on the future of the JRC. Together, we can work towards a workplace where everyone feels empowered to contribute and thrive, we can collectively push for policies that prioritize fairness and inclusivity.

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After a working career of close to 27.5 years as a project/programme manager inside and outside the Netherlands for the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre NLR, I have now been slightly more than a year at JRC Geel. I still feel new and have been positively impressed by some aspects of working at JRC Geel. Yet some of the bureaucratic hurdles and rules and regulations, sometimes literally originating from another era, and the resulting lack of empowerment, have also frustrated me.

I personally believe that for JRC to keep providing relevant and objective scientific advice and support to EU policy, next to being an employer that people want to work for, we need to migrate from our current highly hierarchical model to a more a networked like organisation, while safeguarding our qualities. A stronger focus on collaboration, empowerment and adaptability, an increase in trust and transparency, and redefining roles and responsibilities are just a few things that could be effectuated stronger. Although this might be on a slightly different ambition level than what can be accomplished by joining the Local Staff Committee (LSC) in Geel, it will sort-of function as my personal North Star.

To summarize, my ambition with respect to the LSC is to (1) enable staff empowerment, (2) to foster collaboration between staff, management, units and other stakeholders and (3) to promote transparency and accountability. In doing so, my ambition is to contribute towards a modern and more collaborative, transparent, and empowering JRC Geel organization for all.

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I have been working at JRC-Geel since 2018, but my experience goes beyond that. From 2008 till 2011 was I employed at IRMM (previous name of JRC-Geel) as a grant holder. I was sincerely missing this place, always wanted to come back. And – suprise, suprise – here I am again 😊 Currently, I am a project officer in G.II.6, working on nuclear CRM production plus many other activities related to compliance with nuclear. Privately, I am a proud mama of a son who got his PhD from the Oxford University and – afterwards – quite a good job. I love movies (good old Hollywood, but also modern), books (basically every genre, mostly historical and political fiction) and singing… most often in a shower.

Currently I have been a member (alternate) of the Local Staff Committee, and I would like to continue my work for the next term. LSC is a good opportunity to do something for the others. I have been a member of the Arduous Work Committee and joint committee on Hybrid Working – the two bodies which (among others) are under the LSC scope. I got already some experience how LSC works, and I hope that using this experience I would be able to help more of our colleagues at JRC Geel. I know, some issues are tough, not easy to be solved quickly, but – you know it – A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

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Having an analytical chemistry background, I am working for 2 years now at the JRC-Geel site. As a Project Officer in F.6, I develop reference materials for the clinical field, such as blood biomarkers. I like to spend my free time with our two boys, having walks in the nature, or dancing.

I am interested in the work of the Local Staff Committee, as I have supported the work council in my previous job. In the past, the Council together with the Chemistry Union have helped me on several occasions. So, I find the work of the Council extremely important, and I wish to contribute.

 

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24 years ago, I started to work at the JRC Geel site. I have been working in different units but now I am in F.4 and I’m the unit secretary.

In my private life I’m a mother of 1 teenager and 1 young adult and an adorable female cat. My husband and I love to go to the coast for long walks or bike rides along the coastline or more inland roads. We enjoy good food and interesting spontaneous chats on a terrace. I also like reading books and watching films. In autumn and winter, we also like to play board games instead of having the TV on.

I would like to become a member of the LSC simply because I trust in equal treatment, fairness and respect. In my job and also as a mother I have a supporting role. This I would like to extend to the entire site population as staff is the biggest capital we have and they deserve to be supported by people, colleagues, they have trust in and that can help them finding answers to their questions or to defend their rights.

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Why vote for us?  

We intend to support every staff member at the JRC-Geel site regardless of affiliation. Generation 2004 supports its members in the Local Staff Committee in case of issues cannot be solved on local level.

Generation 2004 is the only staff association that consistently fights against the inequality in career progress and working and living conditions of staff, no matter when they join the service, the type of contract they have or where they work. Generation 2004 was founded in 2012 as a grassroots reaction to the 2004 staff reform, which severely cut the benefits, career prospects and working conditions of newly recruited EU staff.

Generation 2004: 

• Promotes fair play on HR matters in the EU institutions.
• Is ready to cooperate with all trade unions in the interest of all Geel staff.
• Is the biggest staff organization in the Commission.
• Aims to become the most represented voice in Geel

The 2004 and 2014 reforms of the staff regulations: 

• Marked the most substantial changes ever to the employment conditions of EU staff.
• The conditions for staff recruited before 2004 improved at the expense of staff hired thereafter who were obliged to accept considerably worse working conditions.
• Consequently:
• The current recruitment policy of the institutions is marked by the hiring of highly qualified professionals to perform artificially junior roles (“juniorisation”).
• There is now also a lack of an equal career playing field in the institutions.
• Members of Staff in vulnerable categories, particularly the Local Agents (LAs), Contract Agents (CAs), the secretaries and clerks (AST/SCs), and the assistants (ASTs) are consistently exploited and assigned tasks above their responsibility level.

For more information on the voting, please visit the JRC Geel LSC election 2024.

Date of the election: 22-23 October 2024

Meet our Programme

You can read our Political Manifesto here.

Generation 2004
calls for transparency

Generation 2004 Articles concerning Geel