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Combined track and field event the highlight of the jubilee pv

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, staff association Colleagues United organized a reception for all TU/e employees (last April), a festival (on September 9) and a sports day followed by a barbecue and a feast with live music. That last-mentioned event was held last Thursday. Video reporter Collin Wagenmakers made a filmed report and Cursor explored the phenomenon of a staff association.

by
photo Collin Wagenmakers

The combined track and field event was a great success again, but what exactly are the reasons for employees to become members of the staff association (pv) or not? And what about other universities? Is a staff association not outdated yet?

Corny

Aerent van Goor (29) works at DFEZ but has been seconded to ESA for six months now. Although he is not a member of the staff association, he did take part in the combined track and field event. “You don’t have to be a member to participate and I actually find a staff association a bit corny. I saw bits of it during the introductory day a year ago. The tour took us along the PVOC. I don’t think it is of this day and age anymore. Some colleagues tell me they are members because of the discounts, but I know of other ways to get discounts.”

About the sports day, however, De Goor is very enthusiastic. It is the second time he joined in. “Our team was called ESA All round, we ended somewhere around the last place, but I don’t care about that. I thought it was great fun to be involved with immediate colleagues in a different way and to get to know them better. And I was very good at the tug of war.”

Conversely, Richard Foolen, who works at the financial administration of Mechanical Engineering, is a member. “About ten years ago I joined the association to get a discount for a motor vehicle insurance. Unfortunately that didn’t pan out, because it appeared that I had the wrong car”, he says, laughing. “Shortly after that, though, I got children and as a family we have made use of staff association activities, like Saint Nicholas’ Eve and other shows. I’ve been too lazy to sign myself out again, although you could also say that I’ve continued my membership out of solidarity.” Along with him his wife and children stayed members too. Every partner and every child under 18 is automatically also a member of the pv.

Congratulations

Executive Board member Jo van Ham finds it important that TU/e should have a pv. “I therefore extend my best congratulations to Colleagues United on their 60th anniversary and wish them a fine future. The Executive Board considers it important that everybody, from staff members and former staff members to students and alumni, feels connected with the community of our university. How that connection is expressed may vary for all and sundry, which is fitting with the diversity of our community. Colleagues United has its own role to play in this. Colleagues United organizes activities for members as well as non-members. I really enjoy it when I see that it actually also succeeds in levying a lot of non-members for the sports day/combined track and field event and the winter circus. This year, too, our sports day was a tremendous success again and the performance of the Christmas winter circus very quickly sold out altogether again in 2017.”

Happy committee

Chairman Ad van Rooij is satisfied with his club. ”The atmosphere is good and I think we have a convivial committee. Loads of fun. We have an agreeably busy agenda and are in full swing with the activities of the jubilee year. Volunteers like to help and also experience the congenial atmosphere. All in all we are a happy committee.” The chairman does have some worries about the space that is allocated to the association. “It is such a pity that we have to say goodbye to our regular haunt, the PVOC near the Paviljoen. We are going to miss this meeting place dearly.”

Decrease

In the past few years the pv has seen the number of participants in activities decrease. Van Rooij: “People do have their own lives. What you see more now is that members take part in actions and set out on their own. What remains is our activities for the Executive Board. Thus, over the past 10 years the combined track and field event for staff members has grown from 22 participating teams to 51. The Saint Nicholas feast always attracts many participants. Our retired colleagues also like to come to TU/e to take part in a trip or a dinner.”

As showpieces of the pv he mentions the many discounts for members. “For the theater, the music center, Efteling, Toverland, Pathé and a number of group discounts at insurance companies.” The pv has six sections: choir, tennis, game of bowls, bridge, beekeeping and badminton.

Few foreigners

The internationalization that is taking place at TU/e is not reflected in the membership of the pv. “This is not going according to plan”, says the chairman. “The language is definitely a barrier in this respect. Meanwhile David Parkinson, a Security staff member, has joined the committee. David is English so that we hope to break through the language barrier.”

Doing things yourself

At other universities the pv also especially provides for activities and discounts. When asked about the importance of the association for their staff members, Hedwig Roeling (PV Radboud Nijmegen) hits the nail on the head: “Due to the fact that employees are less tied to a physical workplace, the bond with colleagues, the campus and the staff association has changed as well. Also, in comparison with the old days it is much easier to organize things yourself. As a staff association you need to move more in the direction of a network organization.”

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