INTRODUCTION
Who are we?
Our candidacy is composed of individuals affiliated with the CGT-CELLS union section, colleagues at CELLS who are organized and eager to work for the common good.
Why a section? Why a union?
The union section is a tool for collective action formed by the group of affiliated individuals, operating with full autonomy. The CGT union, with experience in many institutions and companies, provides us with support, advice, infrastructure, and facilitates coordination with other collectives and staff representatives.
How does the section work?
The decision-making body is the assembly of affiliated members. We are a solid, experienced, and numerous group that has operated assembly-style since the Section’s establishment in 2009. We meet regularly to discuss issues and specific cases related to the synchrotron’s workplace reality and to make decisions about the most appropriate courses of action.
WHY ARE WE RUNNING IN THE PARTIAL ELECTIONS?
To ensure staff representation on the Company Council (CC). The staff has exceeded 250 people, and legislation allows us to increase the number of CC representatives by 4, who will act as representatives of the workers’ interests before the company.
Because we believe our approach has yielded good results. There are several examples where the actions of workers and representatives have set limits and improved the outcomes of negotiations during our time in the CC. For instance, CGT-CELLS has led the fight to implement the 37.5-hour workweek mandated by AGE regulations and the retroactive compensation for excess hours worked in previous years. Currently, with advice from the Ronda collective, we are leading the legal battle to restore promotions.
Because we have learned. We approach these elections with enthusiasm and the desire to work. Over the years, we have built the infrastructure that allows us to operate and gained experience worth preserving. At the same time, we believe in rotation and avoiding professionalization in CC representation, which is why our candidacy includes new faces eager to work in the CC.
Because we have built a network that provides robust legal and technical support. We want to maximize its use in serving the interests of all workers at our center. Additionally, we have established connections with union representatives from other research centers with similar challenges and shared struggles (UAB, BSC, ICFO, ICIQ, I2CAT), enabling us to work collaboratively, share experiences, and offer mutual support when needed.
Because we want to continue emphasizing that the CC’s actions are led by the workers. We have NEVER signed and will NEVER sign any agreement that has not been ratified by those affected.
Because we want to fight for work-life balance, we advocate for measures like continuous workdays, telecommuting, and compensation for overtime during travel. We also strive to implement agreements such as the reduction of working hours established by law to 37.5 hours, which was recently achieved thanks to union action.
PRIORITIES AND INITIATIVES
1.-Worker Participation
We have always aimed to keep staff informed about important issues. Before establishing the CC’s position on various matters, we have convened meetings with staff and followed their guidance during negotiations with management.
2.- Equality
This remains one of our priorities. We continue to believe in the importance of promoting gender equality within our laboratory. We aim to:
- Eliminate the gender pay gap: equal responsibilities, equal salary.
- Demand measures to achieve parity in leadership positions.
- Promote measures to facilitate the hiring of underrepresented groups.
- Introduce initiatives to encourage shared responsibility in family care.
- Provide useful information to monitor compliance with the above points.
3- Work Toward Salary Equality
Beyond the gender pay gap, ALBA has other salary inequalities for various reasons. We will work to identify and address these disparities to achieve the same base salary for equivalent responsibilities.
- Achieve a detailed pay register.
- Publish salaries in job postings.
- Advocate for the establishment of a fair and transparent salary policy.
4- Ensuring Worker Safety
We strive for the implementation of effective measures, with a particular focus on preventing psychosocial risks. CGT-CELLS has made significant progress in occupational risk prevention (ORP) at CELLS year after year. Through persistent effort and energy, numerous preventive measures and multiple protocols have been established, such as those addressing harassment or conflict resolution.
We have acted constructively by identifying areas for improvement and proposing specific measures, supported by technical arguments. To do this, CGT-CELLS Prevention Delegates have attended various training sessions organized by the Generalitat de Catalunya on workplace safety and health, dedicating many union hours to technical training.
5.- Working for Transparency
Transparency in business management is one of the section’s most important goals, as it is essential for achieving many others.
For example, the lack of transparency in areas like pay, hiring, or evaluations enables the company to act arbitrarily, shielded by the inability to scrutinize its actions. Thanks to the pay register, we have demonstrated that supervisors’ ratings are systematically higher than the staff average. As a public company, we demand compliance with transparency and good governance standards.
6.- Preparing Negotiations and Monitoring Agreements and Regulations
CGT-CELLS places great importance on preparing negotiations and analyzing proposals and final texts with our legal advisors to defend workers’ interests as effectively as possible, understanding the implications, consequences, and legal framework of what is being regulated.
7.- Restoring Promotions and Fair Evaluations
We are leading the effort to restore promotions. Without a promotion system, we lose purchasing power year after year. We are fighting for a system that ensures salary progression adjusted to the cost of living. Furthermore, we have identified irregularities in job evaluations and aim to fight for a fair system that does not depend on category or position within the company.
8.- Preventing Workplace Harassment
Unfortunately, workplace harassment is far more common than one might think.
CELLS is no exception: over the project’s history, several individuals have experienced harassment, in some cases requiring medical assistance and resulting in sick leaves.
CGT has addressed these issues, trained on them, and supported individuals in such situations. CGT-CELLS works and will continue to work to make harassment prevention a true priority within the company, not just on paper. Prevention, victim protection, harm repair, and accountability must be the real goals—not suppression and silencing of scandals
CONCLUSION
As a union section, we have a clear and consolidated project. Our priority has always been and will always be to defend collective interests. We take your trust very seriously. We are eager to continue giving everyone a voice by providing clear and transparent union action.
Your support is crucial for us to continue our work and fight for what we believe in. Naturally, there are many more issues to address, but we wanted to highlight the most important ones and provide a glimpse of our project.
Now it’s your turn to decide. Don’t let others decide for you.
