GAC – EPA

Le site des retraités du CERN et de l'ESO

Blog

  • Postpone the payment of pensions from the 7th to the 25th of the month?  Do you agree?

    Dear GAC-EPA members,

    As you will have read in the letter that you received from the Fund at the beginning of June, the Pension Fund wishes to change the date on which pensions are paid from the 7th to the 25th of the month from the beginning of 2026.

    To better understand the rationale for this change, we asked the Pension Fund for an explanation.

    The main reason for the proposed change is that sometimes bereaved families have to arrange a reimbursement of a pension that has been unduly paid; this often happens when a death occurs at the end of the month – for example: a beneficiary dies on 25 July, the July pension has been paid, however, the August pension is also very likely to be paid if the Fund has not been informed prior to instructing the payment; in this case, the Fund will have to ask the relatives to arrange a reimbursement of the August pension, which is a delicate process for the Pension Fund’s Benefits Service and difficult for the bereaved family. By paying the pension at the end of the month, this problem should arise much less frequently; the rule is that for any death during the month (from the 1st to the last day of the month), the pension is due in full for that month.

    Avoiding certain bereaved families having to pay back a large sum of money in the middle of the night is a laudable intention; however, the GAC-EPA Committee is concerned about the consequences of this change for the most vulnerable beneficiaries.

    The position of the GAC-EPA Committee, which we have presented to the Pension Fund Governing Board and its Benefits Service Team, is clear: we ask the Fund to abandon this change!

    Do you agree with us?

    Give us your opinion by adding a comment on our article; Go to the bottom of the page, fill in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box.

  • New CERN Community Support Center in the Main Building

    Dear Colleagues,

    As announced in the last Bulletin, a new CERN Community Support Centre (CCSC) branch will open in the Main Building on Wednesday 1 October.

    Set in the former Travel agency’s premises next to UBS desk, this new, modern and functional facility will offer the following services to any member of the CERN community holding an access card:

    • First-line support for all CERN services
    • Access card renewal
    • Visitor access card management
    • Vehicle registration         
    • Contractor and Temporary personnel information maintenance   
    • Network and connectivity (e.g Wi-Fi, etc.)
    • Computing accounts management and 2-factor authentication
    • YubiKey Management (Requests & Settings)
    • Telecom Services: SIM/eSIM, mobiles, IP phones, etc.      
    • Eduroam: registration, certificate renewal            
    • Hardware drop-off, setup, repair request              
    • Software licences (e.g Office, PDF, etc.)  
    • Material: borrow or purchase material (e.g chargers, cables, etc.)
    • General questions about IT services or software

    The Service Desk, the IT-SOS and Telecom services and the Uniqa desk have already moved into these new premises.

  • Staff Association Public Meeting – Monday 2 February at 2:00 pm

    Dear Colleagues,

    The Staff Association is organizing a Public Meeting.

    Monday, 2 February at 2:00 p.m. – 503/1-001 –  CERN Council Chamber

    Join us for the latest updates.

    Your presence is highly encouraged, especially if you have questions for the Staff Association.

    Should you be unable to attend in person, join us via Webcast.

    For additional details, we invite you to visit the following link: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1634879/

    Thanks for your attention and please share this information with your colleagues!

  • SA Conference – Children and overexposure to screens – Tuesday 3 February – 5:30 pm

    The Staff Association is pleased to invite you to the conference on:

    Children and overexposure to screens – Dr. Marie-Noëlle Clément

    What impact do digital technologies have on the development of our children and on our own development?

    Tuesday, 3 February – 5:30 p.m.

    503/1-001 – Council Room

    Conference in French

    For more information: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1621915

  • January Cité Seniors

    Programm: https://www.geneve.ch/cite-seniors#

    A new year is beginning, and with it, activities are resuming at Cité Seniors and in the neighbourhoods.

    In the programme for the first half of 2026, available from mid-January, you will find many suggestions to help you develop your creativity or cultural knowledge. Reading, singing, dancing, literary walks, film club, concerts, photography: there is something for everyone.

    Don’t miss the open day on 17 February at Cité Seniors: breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea will be offered depending on the time you arrive.

    I wish you all a wonderful start to the year!

    Christina Kitsos
    Vice-Chair of the Administrative Council of the City of Geneva

  • Conference Loans in CHF Thursday 15 January 26 – 12:30 pm – 503/1-001

    The Staff Association is pleased to invite you to the conference:

    Loans in CHF: exchange-rate risk and the requirement of contractual transparency – Understanding the litigation and Its implications – Maître Dana

    Thursday, 15 January 2026 – 12:30 p.m. 503/1-001 – Council Room & Zoom

    Conference in French, with simultaneous translation into English.

    The conference will be recorded.

    For more information and registration:

    https://indico.cern.ch/event/1619322

  • Tribute Roger Perret

    It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Roger Perret on 20 December at Hôpital de la Tour. His funeral service was held during the holiday period at the Saint-Georges Cemetery in Geneva.

    Roger Perret was a mechanical design engineer of exceptional expertise and professionalism. He joined CERN in 1975, where he served with distinction until his retirement in 2010. Over the course of his 35-year career, within what later became the EN-MME Design Office, he made significant contributions to numerous major projects spanning a wide range of accelerators and experiments, from the ISR to the LHC, including LEP, SPS, and CNGS.

    Many of us knew him particularly through the LHC collimator project, to which he made a fundamental contribution. His ideas formed the basis of the mechanical design of these essential LHC components and were widely adopted in the designs of the HL-LHC collimators as well as other Beam Intercepting Devices. The performance of these systems over the years continues to bear clear testimony to the soundness and relevance of his concepts.

    Throughout his career, Roger passed on his knowledge and expertise to many designers, technicians, and engineers, leaving a lasting legacy within the Design Office and the MME group.

    We will remember him as a dedicated and generous colleague, deeply attached to CERN, passionate about mechanics and craftsmanship, and someone who left a lasting mark on all those who had the privilege of working alongside him.

    His former colleagues from EN-MME

  • Information Sessions dates 2026

    Place: Building 61 – Staff Association room

    From 1:30 to 4:00 pm

    • Tuesday 3 February
    • Tuesday 3 March
    • Tuesday 31 March
    • Tuesday 28 April
    • Tuesday 2 June
    • Tuesday 1 September
    • Tuesday 29 September
    • Tuesday 3 November
    • Tuesday 1 December

  • Invitation to a meeting of the Directorate with the CERN community 16 December at 10:30

    The Director General organises a meeting with the personnel on 16 December 2025 at 10:30. She has autorised access to the retransmission to the retirees.

    This broadcast should therefore be accessible to all retirees having linked their CERN account with an external one (e.g.   gmail.com, outlook.com, hotmail.com, laposte.fr, etc…) before their departure.

    The https://indico.cern.ch/event/1621529/ should be used and authenticated via the « External email – Guest access » link.

    The Webcast should then be accessible by clicking the “Watch” button.

    To be noted that this is still an experimental procedure and its success therefore cannot be completely guaranteed. Please send a mail to GAC-EPA (office.secretariat@gac-epa.org) for questions or access issues.

    PS: the procedure can be tested as of now, but the “Watch” button will only work as of Tuesday.

    We apologize for this last-minute announcement to those of you who do not have Guest access. A procedure will be published by the GAC-EPA in early 2026 outlining how to obtain a Verified Guest Account for those who do not already have one.

  • The monthly pension payment date will not change!

    Thank you for your numerous responses to our message alerting you to the possible change in the pension payment date from the 7th to the 25th of the month.

    97% of you supported the GAC-EPA’s position and expressed a negative opinion for various reasons.

    The analysis of your feedback was communicated to the Pension Fund, which ultimately decided not to make any changes.

    This good news was confirmed by the Fund in a letter that you should have received with the pension payment dates for 2026.

    We would like to thank the Fund and the Benefits Service for this decision.

  • December Cité Seniors

    Program: https://www.geneve.ch/cite-seniors#

    During the festive season, there is nothing better than sharing a good meal and meeting new people. You are warmly invited to attend the meals organised in four neighbourhood centres in the City of Geneva. You will find the telephone number for registration below.

    I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and send you my sincerest wishes for 2026.

    Christina Kitsos
    Vice-Chair of the Administrative Council of the City of Geneva

  • Work management practices and Employee health: A conflictual relationship – 16 December

    The Staff Association is pleased to invite you to the conference on:

    Work management practices and Employee health: A conflictual relationship – Prof. Gregor Bouville

    How and why do certain methods of work management affect employees’ health?

    Tuesday 16 December – 5:30 p.m. 503/1-001 – Council Room

    Conference in French

    For more information and registration: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1606354