Inter-Agency Games 2019 | Jeux Inter-institutions 2019

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Published on Friday, 15 February 2019 15:17

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement below from the United Nations Staff Sports Commission in Geneva (CSPNU).

As is traditional, the Staff Council will subsidize the participation of itsdues-paying members.

All staff attending are granted three days of special leave with full pay.

Good luck to all and bring us back some medals,

Best regards,

Prisca Chaoui, Executive Secretary

Benito Jimeno, Vice-President CSPNU

www.staffcoordinatingcouncil.org | C-527 | tel. 73614

Support your union! Become a dues-paying member today

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The CSPNU invites you to the 46th Inter-Agency Games 2019 (IAG 2019) which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from 30 April to 4 May 2019, organized by UNESCO.

The official website, including full information and rules, is at http://www.interagencygames.org

The cost per person for participating in the IAG is as follows:

EUR 535.00            per adult in twin

EUR 665.00            per adult in single

EUR 350.00            per child of less than 12 (adult package otherwise)

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Our actions to maximise our chances of reversing the pay cut | Nos actions pour maximiser nos chances de succès contre les coupes

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Published on Friday, 15 February 2019 10:31

We would like to update you on our actions with regards to the legal appeals against last year’s 5.2 percent pay cut.

For memory you will recall that this cut was decided by the International Civil Service Commission. Despite strong evidence of errors of process and calculation, as well as two strikes, two work stoppages and multiple demonstrations, all organizations applied the cut after coming under extraordinary pressure from a coordinated campaign by certain member states.

Faced with this situation, a staff townhall was held on 12 April 2018 where it was decided that the most effective way to reverse the cut was to challenge it legally and make use of the large amount of evidence we have at hand against the cut. In doing so there was a recognition by all that we would have to arm ourselves with patience given the pace of the legal process. 

Key to this process has been to ensure that large numbers of appeals are received from staff. Eight hundred of you submitted appeals and these cases are being heard at the UN Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) with legal representation provided by the Office of Staff Legal Assistance. (A separate top administrative lawyer, paid for by the Staff Council is also representing a certain number of staff in the hope of covering all bases.) Similar numbers submitted appeals in the specialized agencies. Those appeals will eventually go to the ILO Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT), which unlike UNDT, hears appeals by staff of the specialized agencies. 

The UNDT already held preliminary hearings in October and we were pleased with the amount of detail that was covered and brought to light. A recording of those hearings is here. If we win at the UNDT, it is likely, given past practice, that the Secretary-General will appeal to the UN Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) (which is what happened last year when the UNDT found that certain cuts to benefits were illegal). Knowing the distinct approaches and jurisprudence of the UNAT and ILOAT, we believe it is important that when the UNAT comes to hearing the case, it should do so with the benefit of having a judgement from the ILOAT at hand. 

To this end we have been working closely with the staff unions of the specialized agencies, coordinating actions, and sharing knowledge and legal arguments, in order to do our best to help your chances of ultimate victory. 

And as separately mentioned we are also working with globally-renowned statisticians to fix the ICSC methodology that led to the cut. 

Once again, this will not be fast. But we will continue to keep you updated.

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Letter to the Secretary-General on management not consulting with staff unions | Lettre adressée au Secrétaire général sur l’absence de consultation des syndicats du personnel

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Published on Thursday, 07 February 2019 11:36

As we noted during the global townhall last month, staff unions are concerned at how Management (in particular the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance) has tried to circumvent consultations with staff. This impacts you with regards to jobs, promotion prospects, restructuring processes, travel standards, working hours and overtime calculations, and fighting harassment including sexual harassment.

Please find here a letter sent to the Secretary-General by the staff unions of the UN on this subject, requesting him to intervene to return his management team to the table.

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Townhall on stopping harassment and abuse in the UN workplace | Réunion générale sur les résultats de l'enquête sur la conduite prohibée

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Published on Tuesday, 05 February 2019 11:08

As you will recall, we conducted a survey last November on harassment and abuse. It was organised by the CCISUA staff federation, of which we are members. The results were worrying: 

·         Nearly half of respondents (44%) believe they were subjected to abuse of authority, 40% were the victim of discrimination and 37% experienced harassment at the UN. Over 15% of staff reported suffering sexual harassment in the workplace.

·         Less than one fifth of victims of misconduct chose to file a complaint; the two predominant reasons cited by staff were their lack of trust in the system and fear of retaliation.

·         Amongst staff who did file a complaint, 20% believe they were retaliated against for having done so.

·         Nearly half of investigations took more than one year to complete; staff felt the investigations were conducted in a professional manner in only one third of cases, and were fully satisfied with the outcome in only 10% of cases.

As promised, we closely examined the survey results and your individual feedback, and would like to share our findings with you during a townhall taking place this Thursday 7 February at 1.30 p.m. in room XI. At this meeting we would like to gather your reactions and your ideas on how to better fight harassment and abuse in the UN workplace.

The townhall will be preceded by a brief Staff General Assembly for which the agenda is here.

We look forward to seeing many of you.

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