UNITED
NATIONS, June
16 -- Labor
relations in
the UN of
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon
have hit a new
low, with his
negotiators
abruptly
terminating a
Staff
Management
Committee
session in
Mexico City,
accused of
trying to
eliminate
Staff Union
negotiating
rights.
This
follows the New
York Staff
Union's
resolution of
"no
confidence"
in Ban Ki-moon,
and a May
Day march
in front of UN
headquarters,
protesting
their
treatment
under Ban. Video here.
Inner
City Press has
exclusively
covered
each of these,
and each time
when
questioned
Ban's Office
of the
Spokesperson
has indicated
that the
rift would be
solved. But if
anything,
things have
gotten worse.
The
no-confidence
resolution was
the result of
an amendment
from the
floor by a sub-set of
the Union
rooted in the
Publishing
Section,
targeted for 99
job cuts.
(There are
other cuts,
still
unexplained,
set for the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations despite
it stated
build-up for
Mali.)
Now the
official
president of
the union,
who at least
initially
opposed the
no-confidence
resolution,
has sent
the e-mail
below. Where
is this
headed? And
where is Ban
Ki-moon?
(The answer
is, traveling
again, while
the UN further
decays).
From:
NY Staff Union
president
Barbara
Tavora-Jainchill
Date:
06/16/2013
03:12PM
Subject:
Management
terminates
negotiations
with staff
unions - We
are on our own
Dear
Colleagues, It
is with great
disappointment
that we inform
you that
the annual
negotiations
between the
UN’s staff
unions and
global
management,
held this year
in Mexico
City, were
terminated
early by
management
Friday evening
as unions
vigorously
defended you
from
attempts to
remove
negotiating
rights.
The
abrupt ending
of the Staff
Management
Committee (SMC
II) on its
third
of seven days
means that key
issues
relating to
the
Secretary-General’s
reform agenda
are now left
unresolved.
These
include
mobility,
introducing
more
transparent
guidelines for
downsizing,
reviewing the
situation of
field staff,
fixing the
internal
justice
system, travel
standards and
a hiring
freeze to
protect
General
Service staff
already on
board.
We
were surprised
management
should choose
to terminate
the meeting so
early.
Management had
introduced a
proposal after
the document
submission
deadline to
remove unions’
right to
negotiate; a
right
unions had won
after four
years of
dedicated
campaigning.
Staff
unions wanted
adequate time
to get to the
bottom of
management’s
proposal in
order to make
sure that a
proper
negotiating
framework
would continue
to be in
place.
Management
wanted to cut
short this
agenda item
and move onto
other issues,
proposing to
come back to
it
time-permitting.
Staff put two
options
forward to
overcome the
disagreement
including
deferring the
issue of
negotiating
rights to
the following
session.
Management
rejected them
both and then
insisted on
the early
termination of
the meeting.
We
continue to
believe that a
constructive
dialogue
between staff
and
management, as
set out in the
current
framework
(ST/SGB/2011/6),
makes the
United Nations
strong
especially
when
significant
reforms
are being
proposed that
impact staff
welfare. We
therefore urge
management to
return to the
table and call
for SMC to be
resumed.
Until that
meeting is
concluded, it
goes without
saying that
none of
the
Secretary-General’s
proposals on
the agenda
should be
implemented.
We
believe the
early walk out
by management
demonstrates a
lack of
flexibility
required for a
negotiation
and an
irresponsible
use of
resources,
both of the
organization
and of those
unions that
paid to
send delegates
to the
meeting.
And
amid this, as
Inner City
Press has also
exclusively
reported, the
UN
has been
paying $1200
for Romano
Prodi to
travel from
Bologna to
Rome
- as Ban's
envoy on the
Sahel, no
less. Watch
this site.
, 
