Statement on behalf of the Coordinating
Committee for International Staff
Unions and Associations of the United
Nations System (CCIUSA) by Ms. Susan
Thompson, First Vice-President, 5 July
2005, UN Headquarters, New York on the
occasion of 188th meeting of the UN Joint
Staff Pension Board Standing Committee.
CCISUA appreciates the opportunity to
address the Standing Committee of the United
Nations Joint Staff Pension Board on the
occasion of its 188th meeting. The CCISUA
federation places great value in matters pertaining
to staff pensions because retired staff
are an integral and respected part of the
United Nations family and because of its firm
commitment to the concept of income
replacement and the fact that conditions of
life for a retired staff member should not dramatically
change upon retirement as it relates
to the standard of living.
For that reason, CCISUA has been confident that the profile of a fund growing in
finances and membership, as presented at
meetings of the Pension Board, will enable
the Pension Fund to continue appropriately
servicing those who have dedicated their lives
in service to the United Nations.
At its recent general assembly in June 2005,
CCISUA adopted a resolution requesting that: “the UNJSPB Standing Committee review, as
a priority matter, the proposal already tabled
at the UNJSPB 2004 meeting that “no initial
retirement benefit expressed in dollar terms
or local currency may be lower than the one
the participant would have been entitled to
had he or she separated earlier while eligible
for early retirement benefit.”
Consideration be given to ensure that no
pension be less than the actuarial equivalent
of contributions paid by and on behalf
of participants.
The CCISUA Assembly also:
Supported terms of reference for the
Comprehensive Review of Pensionable
Remuneration as they will address issues of
the utmost importance to the staff, notably
the use of retirees’ taxation, the inclusion in
pensionable remuneration of all components
of salaries, the reverse application of the
special index of pensioners and the issue of
double taxation via the staff assessment
mechanism.
Expressed its strong view that, whatever
changes may be considered in the pay and
benefits systems, these should not be
designed in such a way that they may affect
the nature of the pension scheme.”
The problem of devalued currency has
been an issue facing the staff in developing
countries for many years. Efforts have been
made in the past by the Standing Committee
to look at this problem and come up with proposals
to address it. CCISUA is hopeful that,
at this session, clear measures will be
adopted that will provide limited guarantees
to an assured level of pension that will partially
address the problem.
CCISUA would also like to emphasize the
importance of retaining a balance when discussing
matters of importance to both active
and retired staff. The needs of active staff and
their ability to be flexible must always be balanced
against the contributions of retired
staff and their vulnerability facing a future on
fixed incomes. CCISUA has appreciated the
efforts to protect the pension scheme of
United Nations staff and encourages the
Standing Committee to reinforce the need for
administrations to also safeguard the nature
of the pension scheme when designing new
pay and benefit systems. CCISUA fully supports
this approach and would actively join in
those continued efforts.
Additional items of concern to CCISUA are
the size and composition of the Board. This
discussion has been taking place for the past
three years and, hopefully, this matter will be
resolved shortly. CCISUA looks forward to
the discussions that will take place on adopting
a methodology to calculate pensions.
Also, it should be noted that under the twotrack
system serious problems are being presented
with the devaluation of the dollar and
the increasing strength of the Euro and the
Yen. It is recalled that the same situation prevailed
in the mid 1980s. At that time, the Pension
Board undertook a study of six countries,
5 in Europe and Japan. Based on the
results of this review, the General Assembly
adopted interim measures.
CCISUA also notes the upward trend in
the administrative expenses of the UN Joint
Staff Pension Fund as well as expanded
investment in developing countries.
CCISUA is extremely supportive of modernization
and outreach activities of the Pension
Fund but points out that the United
Nations strives for zero budget growth in
response to the Member States’ request to
expand activities without incurring additional
financial resources. And, while
CCISUA has praised the efforts of the
Investment Management Service, the funds
being invested are public money and due
care should be exercised to ensure the protection
of those resources.
CCISUA looks forward to the results of the
deliberations of the Standing Committee and
the favourable recommendations that will
protect the rights of all parties in the pension
scheme and address problems that have been
identified to the satisfaction of all.
Thank you.
