27.07.2015

Encounter of the SEW/OGBL and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research

Working conditions and remuneration: elements of the attractiveness of Luxembourg’s research sector

 

A delegation of the Higher Education and Research Department of SEW/OGBL, composed of staff delegates from the University, the CVCE and the public research centers (PRC) LIH, LIST and LISER,as well as the central secretaries Danièle Nieles and Frederic Krier, recentlymet the Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, Marc Hansen, to exchange views on current problems and prospects of the sector.

 

The OGBL first addressed it’s statement on the current special regime for fixed-term contracts (FTC) in the sector. The OGBL criticizes in particular the practice of inflicting a waiting period to employees whose FTC expired after the period of 60 months, before being reemployed with a new FTC, sometimes even with a lower salary than in the previous contract. The Secretary of State referred to the responses of the Higher Education and Labour Ministers to two recent parliamentary questions, where it is stressed that nothing prevents public research organizations to enter into permanent contracts with researchers. He confirmed that this message has been sent to the directions and that the ministry hopes that in future waiting period situations are avoided.

 

Regarding the legal vacuum raised by the OGBL, created by the adoption of the new law on public research centers, while the Labor Code continues referring to the repealed laws of 1987 and 1989 on PRC and CEPS/INSTEAD, the Secretary of State confirmed that this problem has been transmitted to the Ministry of Labor and that it should soon be resolved. He also announced that discussions on the special regime, which exceeds the only higher education and research sector, will be held under the supervision of the Minister of Labor and Employment. The OGBL reiterated its request to be involved in these discussions.

 

The discussion then focused on issues related to relocation of the various institutions to Esch/Belval: road congestion, inadequate rail connections (and the replacement of the direct line Thionville-Belval by a bus), parking problems on the site, ... While stressing that these are matters that fall under the competence of the Minister of Sustainable Development (whom the SEW/OGBL already met on June 22 to discuss this issue), the Secretary of State said he understands the concerns of staff and is committed to press the directions to ensure a transparent information policy in relation to the terms and conditions of the move to Belval. The problems identified are linked with significant gaps in the planning by previous governments, which have already led to emergency interventions of the current government to finance the first equipments of the University and an offer of catering on site.

 

Other topics discussed were staff development since the merging of public research centers Gabriel Lippmann and Henri Tudor to form the LIST, and the announced integration of the CVCE into the new Institute of Contemporary History of the University of Luxembourg. The Secretary of State confirmed that the employees concerned will be integrated with full rights in the University and therefore may benefit from the same working and remuneration conditions as employees of the University.