Groupement des Anciens du CERN – ESO Pensioners Association
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 retirees of ESO and CERN and to stay in touch, to provide them with information relevant to their situation and to defend their interests. It is recognised by both ESO and CERN as the official negotiating partner for matters relating to pensioners.
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. (This was time when ESO lost its seat on the Governing Board, although both ESO and CERN Staff Associations have a seat.)
The GAC-EPA is organised by a committee, one of whose members is the ‘ESO-Representative’. The committee members are elected for a period of two years by the association’s membership. The ESO Representative is directly elected by the ‘ESO’ members of the association.
As well as overseeing the pension fund 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 taxation). It can also act as an intermediary between a pensioner and the parent organisation or the pension fund, it deals with queries from members, and it organises occasional social events, such as the ESO members Christmas get-together.
This explains very well how you can keep contact with fellow pensioners, and how you can help defend your interests as a member of the CERN pension fund, by joining the GAC-EPA - which is strongly recommended. Coordination with the CERN pensioners is important because they can monitor the pension fund much more closely than we can at ESO.
Obviously, to carry out these objectives properly, it needs the support of the pensioners themselves. The cost of membership of the GAC-EPA is minimal (30 CHF/year) and already over half of the ESO pensioners are member of the Association. If you wish to join, click on one of the Quick Links at the right to get more information. A Standing Order Form of the AMFIE bank is provided as well. The more members we have the better the representation will be. We also 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.
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.
