Organisation - April 27, 2011

Employees' council says no to head office in Atlas

The employees' council of the Environmental Sciences Group (ESG) is against locating the Administration Centre in Atlas. The employees' council of the Administration Centre follows suit and therefore also opposes this move.

This is the stand taken by both these employees' councils. The ESG council does not think that the arrival of the Administration Centre in Atlas and the re-allocation of space in this building will leave enough room for all its employees. In particular, students will have a serious shortage of work space. According to the council, the plans are based on the number of students in 2003, but the numbers have risen sharply since then and this growth is still going on.
Unclear
ESG would have to give up a lot to accommodate the Administration Centre. This would incur costs in Atlas, Gaia and Lumen. Renovations would cost ESG 610,000 euros, but it is unclear what this sum of money would be used for, says the ESG council. It is also unclear who would eventually have to account for the unproductive hours during renovation and house-moving. With such uncertainties, the council has issued a negative advice on the move. Unless a number of demands can be met at the same time.
Air-conditioning
The employees' council of the Administrative Centre is, however, agreeable to the move under certain conditions. One of these conditions is that the Executive Board will not get air-conditioning. The council feels that such an investment cannot be justified. 'In areas which call for thrift, leaders should set a good example', writes Ard de Leur. 'Proposals such as this make it painfully clear that a gap exists between the Executive Board and the rest of the organization. The atmospheric condition inside Atlas is much better than that in the current head office, and this makes the need to install air-conditioning even less.'
Final
However, the biggest stumbling block for the employees' council of the Administration Centre is that their ESG colleagues are against the plans. As such, a major condition of this council cannot be met.Tthe final stand which both employees' councils currently take therefore consists of insurmountable objections to the plans concerning Atlas and the Administration Centre.

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