STAFF REPRESENTATIVES’ CORNER

This month, the Staff Representatives’ corner includes a new column called “In the Courts.” Its purpose is to inform you on the judgments emerging from the UN Dispute Tribunal and how it impacts the Organization, your manager and you.

IAN RICHARDS

Staff-Management Consultative Committee
As this article is being written, the SMCC is taking place in Beirut. Convened once a year, this is an opportunity for staff unions from around the world and management to propose and consider changes to human resources policy.
It isn’t a perfect system. Some decisions need to be agreed to by the General Assembly, which, with continuing contracts last year, was not the case. Other decisions are not always respected by management itself. However, in the absence of an alternative system, and one is being considered, it is the best method to influence change.
This year the UNOG Coordinating Council submitted four proposals of the total 16. These were: a revised proposal on continuing contracts; a request to revise the rules on temporary contracts; a call for a global policy to institute a modern, healthy and family-friendly working environment at the UN; and a proposal on career development and voluntary mobility for general-service staff.

The papers submitted by management and the other duty stations covered mobility, performance management, a new young professionals programme, a second household allowance for peacekeeping staff, compensation for death-in-service, internal justice, and staff-management relations.

Crèche
The new Council brought with it new blood and a number of members who are dedicating themselves to enabling a crèche for UN staff.
As many of you are aware, crèche places are hard to find in Geneva. The Council has put forward a request to management to examine how space and resources could be allocated to this. The answer that came back was the difficulty of identifying funding from the UN budget and that space may only be made available in the Palais once it underwent a thorough refurbishment, not envisaged for a few more years.
Given this situation, the Council will be exploring with management, the City of Geneva, SAFI and other partners on how resources and space could be found to establish a crèche outside the Palais grounds. It could be based on the model of the Crèche des Morillons next to the ILO, which was built by the City and the Red Cross.¹

Cost-of-living survey for professional staff
As you may know, the International Civil Service Commission is undertaking its five-yearly survey in order to calculate the cost-of-living in different duty stations and set the post adjustment accordingly.
The survey will include an online questionnaire where staff will be asked to fill in, anonymously, how they spend their money in Geneva, as well as a visit to different outlets used by staff to evaluate living costs.
Worryingly the ICSC has decided that for the first time, staff living in France should be included in this survey even though France voisine is not considered as Geneva, does not provide the same privileges and immunities and is not accessible to all nationalities. The Council believes that including France-based colleagues will harm the interests of all staff. It will either bring down the overall post adjustment for Geneva or will lead to a lower post adjustment being set up specifically for staff across the border. Our recommendation therefore is for staff living in France not to participate in the survey.

Haiti
Earlier this year, many of you gave generously to support the people of Haiti, robbed of their livelihoods by the devastating earthquake. Over 40,000 CHF was collected to which the Council added 20,000 CHF from its reserves.
At the time, many of those contributing expressed the wish that these funds should be devoted to an identifiable community pro-ject. At the time, with no operating banks, non-existent infrastructure and priority being given to saving lives and emergency assistance, such a project was not feasible. With a basic infrastructure now in place, the Council has started working with colleagues with contacts in Haiti and with MINUSTAH to identify suitable projects. For the projects that are proposed, a thorough due diligence will need to be undertaken in order to ensure financial clarity and stability.

Retirement age
As staff look forward to ever longer longevity and observe governments around Europe increasing the legal age of retirement, many colleagues approaching retirement are asking whether they could work for longer.
The good news is that following a submission by staff representatives through the CCISUA Federation, the International Civil Service Commission has requested the Pension Fund to prepare an impact study. Based on the results of that study, which will be presented this summer, the ICSC will then make a decision on whether staff who joined before 1990, could have the choice to retire at 62 instead of 60. This would then need to be considered by the General Assembly.

OCHA
Many staff at OCHA will have been surprised to receive from their contacts in government, a statement distributed to donors by USG John Holmes warning that its budget problems could lead to staff cuts and that a review had already decided which sections might be closed. The fact that staff found out about this from governments instead of from their own management has created worry and concern, which was not assuaged by a hastily convened townhall meeting once the document had been leaked.
The Coordinating Council and the OCHA Sectoral Assembly met with OCHA management on this issue. Management informed staff representatives that for the time-being staff cuts would be prevented by funding from vacant posts. It was agreed that a joint staff-management consultative mechanism would be set up to explore all possible ways in which budget cuts could be absorbed without impacting staff.
This was done in the spirit of management’s obligation to consult with staff “in cases where managerial decisions are taken that may have substantial implications for the careers, welfare and working conditions of the staff”.²

¹ (UN Special April 2009. http://www.unspecial.org/UNS683/t42.html)
² Paragraph 5 (c) of ST / SGB/274