Ban
Called NY
Staff Union
Selfish, Now
Stands
Behind Remark,
Resolution
Pends
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 23 --
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
January 22
answered Inner
City Press'
question about
opposition to
his
"mobility"
plan to move
staff out of
New York by
calling
the UN Staff
Union in New
York
"selfish."
On
January 23,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey about the
Staff Union's
response that
"it is very
sad that
the
Secretary-General
never cared to
ask us why we
didn't agree
to
this mobility
proposal [but]
instead, he
decided to
rely solely on
whatever his
close
collaborators
chose to tell
him."
Inner
City Press
asked, are the
members of the
UN Staff Union
in New York
misunderstanding?
Is "selfish"
really the
word? Video
here
from Minute
10:18.
Del
Buey claimed
that all other
staff
associations
support Ban's
plans,
they "live in
Quonset huts"
and "can't
leave their
compounds...
they've been
there for many
years." Video
here,
from Minute
11:07
Then
Del Buey said,
"the Secretary
General stands
firmly behind
what
he said
yesterday" (video
here, from
Minute 11:50)
- which
includes
calling the NY
Staff Union
and its
members
"selfish."
Is this
effective
diplomacy?
We'll see.
The
Staff Union
has circulated
a draft
resolution
which would
have the
Union "noting
that the
Secretary-General
has instructed
substantive
departments
within the
organization
to come up
with an
additional
$100 million
in budget
reductions to
be achieved
mainly
through cuts
in staffing;
"Alarmed
that
the senior
management of
the
Organization
has withheld
plans and
proposals that
will weaken
the United
Nations,
severely
impact staff
safety and
security, and
dismantle the
international
civil service;
To express our
dismay that
the
Organization
has further
eroded the
trust of staff
in
senior
management
by failing to
conduct, in an
open and
transparent
manner,
genuine and
constructive
consultations
on matters
involving
staff
welfare and
working
conditions;
"To
call upon the
Secretary-General
to hold his
senior
managers
accountable
for
mismanagement
"To
urge the
Secretary-General
to immediately
implement a
hiring freeze
on all
external
employment
across all
levels and
categories of
staff
of the
Organization;
and
"to
discuss our
confidence in
the
Secretary-General
and his senior
management
team at that
time.
Watch
this site.
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