Cern off the hook over higher wages for researchers

Cern’s research institutes have a responsibility to ensure that the people they employ have sufficient financial means to cover their living costs and adequate social support, the Swiss cabinet has said. The cabinet's conclusions were included in a report on the working conditions and wages for researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva. The government had been asked by parliament to look for concrete measures to make sure their situation is improved. The issue was raised in parliament back in 2014 after reports in the press that the specialist researchers working at Cern were not being treated fairly. Researchers’ working conditions were described as “precarious”. There was an accusation that more and more researchers from all over the world are employed by foreign research institutes on annual contracts, leading to an “uncertain” situation for these people in terms of job security. Despite Cern being a highly successful and ...