GAC-EPA: Groupement des Anciens du CERN – ESO Pensioners Association
What is the GAC-EPA?
The Groupement des Anciens du CERN – ESO Pensioners Association (GAC-EPA) is created to bring together the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund and other pensioners of ESO and CERN; it also provides a channel to stay in touch and circulates information relevant to these pensioners. The GAC-EPA is recognised by both ESO and CERN as the official negotiating partner for matters relating to pensioners and defend their interests, particularly in relation to the CERN Pension Fund and healthcare.
Organisation
The GAC-EPA was formed in 2008 from the former GAC when the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund obtained a seat on the Governing Board of the Fund. At that time also the ESO Staff Association got its own seat, in addition to the ESO Council/Management seat. Since then, the GAC-EPA has changed its statutes, to also allow CERN and ESO pensioners who are not beneficiaries of the CERN PF to become GAC-EPA members.
The GAC-EPA is lead by a committee whose members are elected for a period of two years by the GAC-EPA members.One of the members of the GAC-EPA committee is the ESO-Representative who is directly elected by the ‘ESO’ members of GAC-EPA. As also non-beneficiaries can become member, this implies that the ESO representative acts as the representative for all ESO pensioners, in matters relating to the pension, health care and long-term care.
Activities and Involvements
To represent the CERN and ESO pensioners and defends their interests efficiently, the coordination between ESO andCERN pensioners is important, because the latter group can monitor the CERN PF much more closely than we can at ESO. Clearly, the GAC-EPA is very useful to remain informed about issues relevant to retired staff and to keep in contact with fellow pensioners. Similarly for non-beneficaires of the CERN PF, as there are also the healthcare and long-term care issues to be dealt with.
As well as overseeing the CERN PF and the respective health insurance schemes of the two organisations, the GAC-EPA provides a forum for discussion on matters relevant to pensioners (for example local taxation). Also, it acts as an intermediary between a pensioner and the parent organisation or the CERN PF, it deals with queries from members, and it organises occasional social events, such as for the ESO GAC-EPA members the ESO pensioners New Year’s get-together.
For these reasons, it is strongly recommended to join the GAC-EPA and to become a member. The more we are, the stronger we stand in defending the interests of us all.
Membership
Obviously, to carry out these objectives properly, the GAC-EPA needs the support of the pensioners themselves. The cost of membership of the GAC-EPA is minimal (30 CHF/year) and about half of the ESO pensioners are member. If you wish to join, please fill in the GAC-EPA Membership Application form. The membership contribution can be paid in either Swiss CHF or in EUR. Please check the Membership Fee page to find all payment details.
The GAC-EPA at ESO
At ESO, we organise reunions for ESO pensioners once or twice per year and maintain regular contact with the ESO Administration for matters relating to the retired staff. Also, the Association occasionally distributes information of interest to registered ESO pensioners (e.g., upcoming meetings, health insurance information, etc.) and uses for that purpose the ESO Pensioners' mailing list. Note that this is a closed list, i.e. only those on the list can use it without moderator intervention, and only the list members can see the addresses of their fellow members. For subscribing to the ESO Pensioners' mailing list please fill out the Registration Form.
