Supporting the companies

The RSB – the go-between

Established in 2004, the fundamental mission of the Industrial Relations department is to avoid crisis situations with the work-force.  The Base Industrial Relations manager (RSB) reports directly to the Director of CNES/CSG.  He was appointed with no preconceived tools or methods, in the middle of restructuring, because an arbitrator was needed to drive and coordinate social policy on the Base.  The RSB's first mission was to organise the working groups set up by the President of CNES to involve Base employees in the discussions relating to the agency's reorganisation.

Entrusted with the handling of social issues at the Guiana Space Centre, the RSB works immediately under the director of CNES/CSG, who is also Chairman of the UEBS. In terms of the logistical and technical support provided to the UEBS Chairman, the RSB prepares and calls weekly meetings of the association, prepares the case files submitted to the members each week, and drafts the Chairman's responses to the trade union organisations or the UEBS members.

He also gives his opinion on social relations at each meeting of the UEBS. Averse to indicators and other similarly formal tools, he relies above all on his practical experience to grasp critical situations and analyse the demands being made.  Equally close to the Director of CNES/CSG, the other company heads and the trade union representatives, he likes to consider himself as a go-between.

Interfacing closely with the Director, he is able to pass on comments from the social partners without difficulty.  He has an open-door policy and takes care to provide the same welcome to the trade union representatives as to the UEBS company heads.  In order to find points of mutual interest he always tries to understand the different opinions ... to such a degree that he has occasionally been blamed for excessive bias towards one side or another.  But even if the choice of side is not always easy, he is constantly driven by one thing: honesty.

An honesty which requires absolute caution with regard to the issue of interference, regardless of the circumstances.  There is no question of the RSB challenging a company's independence during the conflict-management process.  Just a simple mediator in the context of strikes occurring within a given company, he is appointed by the Director of CNES/CSG to negotiate with the social partners only in the event of a widespread conflict likely to jeopardise the smooth continuation of campaign operations, like the one which disrupted the Base in October 2006.  At such times he intervenes on the front line to convey written proposals from management to the trade union representatives and to call post-crisis meetings.  But he is not immune to the difficulties of such a mission.  These situations are always complicated to resolve and it is far better to reach an understanding well before a crisis erupts.

This is why, apart from occasional intervention, the RSB provides support to companies on a regular basis, as part of the implementation of an ambitious social policy.  In his view, ensuring compliance with the social measures in force at the Base is not achieved through rigid control combined with stigmatisation.  It is accomplished by enabling companies to gain a fuller understanding of the subtleties of the Site Convention in order to apply it better.  Between interpretative analysis and consultation on certain measures stipulated by the Site Convention, the RSB ensures on a day-to-day basis that any contentious points are clarified, calling when all else fails on the Joint Committee for Conciliation and Interpretation (CPCI).  As a last resort, the RSB may be required to point out certain provisions of the Site Convention.  Recently, in July 2006, the Committee had to meet in order to clarify the conditions for using the company shuttle, intended for transporting employees to and from the airport.

Moreover, the RSB's mission is not limited to clarification of the documents in force.  It also involves supervising the Local Skills Bureau, through management of the Sodexho subcontracting agreement, providing active recruitment support, and helping with skills development on behalf of the UEBS. In this way, the RSB has been working, since the role was first created, to ensure that employers at the Base can make full use of the BLC’s resources.

The BLC...

In 2004, the Local Skills Bureau (BLC) was reorganised in order to respond better to the needs of the companies at the Base.  It had become necessary to add new life to this organisation - to whom local workers were particularly attached - and which seemed an instrument of vital importance to the UEBS.  Strengthened by its 2004 overhaul and the new dynamic tools it is now equipped with, the BLC is on the way to winning its gamble: creating synergies based on shared tools for managing human resources.  A pivotal body open both to the Base and the outside, it is supporting the UEBS Directors in their recruitment processes with growing success.  Among other activities for managing skills and information relating to the issue of human resources at CSG, it organises inter-company training courses which provide opportunities for the employees of the different companies on the site to acquire common methodologies and language.

This last point is particularly close to the RSB's heart, as he considers the development of a common language to be crucial.  In this respect, the site training plan still has a long way to go.  The RSB sees it as central to social cohesion in the coming years, all the more so as its possibilities have not yet all been fully explored.  Applications for European funding should be investigated in order to allow larger-scale training schemes to be undertaken.  But there is no hurry.  On this issue as on all the others, the key word is consultation.

... and Communication

Spurred on by the RSB manager, the Local Skills Bureau (BLC) has again become an indispensable partner to the UEBS on all fronts: employment and skills, training and communication.  The arrival of a new communications representative is solid proof of its good health.  The head of this activity, boasting excellent results, now intends to get on and communicate!

An active supporter of the UEBS, the Local Skills Bureau is today reaping the benefits of an innovative policy in terms of human resources support.  In greater demand than ever before by the Directors of the UEBS, the four employees of the BLC are seeing their roles strengthened in their primary mission of recruitment assistance: as well as the simple, centralised dissemination of information about vacancies at companies on the Base, the BLC is taking on a consulting role.  At the request of the recruitment officers, the BLC presents suitable candidates corresponding to the required profile.  It also provides them with access to a well-established network for the local employment market, with associations like IRIG-DEFIS, whose objective is to help young Guianese graduates find jobs.

As a part of its contribution to skills management, the BLC has developed a series of measures for supporting Base employees in their career development plans.  In particular it provides logistical support to applicants for the French Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience (an accreditation system recognising work experience), from the project conception stage through to its delivery to an accredited training centre for validation.

The communications representative and her assistant, who is also in charge of training, are regularly in close contact with these training centres in the context of the Site Training Plan, organising joint training courses for enhancing the skills of the Base employees.  Firm links have been established with the various centres, which will strengthen further with the involvement of partners of the French state education system in inter-company training.  Since the end of 2006, ties with GRETA (an association of local public bodies involved in adult education) have been reinforced and links with the IUT (University Institute of Technology) have been sought, in order to offer specialised training which is tailored to the needs of the UEBS employees: electrical and physical measurements, signal processing, networks and telecommunications.  Renewing the links with the state education system seemed essential in order to match the training services to the specific requirements of the companies on the Base.

Convinced of its importance, the communications representatives frequently attend information forums where they present the opportunities available at the Space Centre and help young Guianese students make informed choices about their training options.

Lastly, information about social issues, external and internal, constitutes another major part of their activity.  The BLC does not hesitate to provide information about various human resources issues.  It organises two different information sessions on topical social issues: social updates and the Rendez-vous du BLC which were first held in 2005.  Previously reserved for training managers and HR staff, the latter generated such strong interest that they have been opened up to industrial managers too.