In August FICSA...

...Welcomed a new full member

1. On 3 August, following a postal vote, the Staff Association of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) was admitted into FICSA as a full member (see FICSA Update No. 42).

2. The General Secretary wrote on this occasion to the other decentralized offices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

   ...Welcomed two new associate members

3. On 1 August, following a postal vote, the Staff Association of the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) was admitted into FICSA as an associate member (see FICSA Update No. 42).

4. The General Secretary wrote on this occasion to the other International Agricultural Research Centres members of the "Future Harvest" network.

5. On 8 August, following a postal vote, the Staff Association of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was admitted into FICSA as an associate member (see FICSA Update No. 42).

   ...Welcomed a new member with observer status

6. On 1 August, following a postal vote, the Federation of United Nations Staff Associations in Costa Rica (FAPCOSNU) was admitted into FICSA as a member with observer status (see FICSA Update No. 42).

   ...Provided information on membership to the ICO Staff Association

7. Information on the conditions for FICSA membership was sent to the Staff Association of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), London.

   ...Provided information on membership to the Staff of the ITLS

8. Information on the conditions for FICSA membership was provided to the Staff Association of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLS), whose seat is in Hamburg (Germany).

   ...Provided information about FICSA to members of the ILO Staff Union Committee

9. Information on the latest status of FICSA: its membership, structure, activities, method of calculating contributions and relations with ICSC, was provided to members of the Staff Union Committee of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in preparation for their global meeting of staff representatives and their discussion on relations between the Union and FICSA. The Federation considers that it is in the interest of all staff to count the ILO Staff Union as a FICSA member.

   ...Participated in a meeting of the Task Force on HIV/AIDS in the UN Workplace

10. The General Secretary and Ms. Anne Marie Pinou, FICSA Research and Liaison Officer, participated in a meeting of the Task Force on HIV/AIDS in the UN Workplace organized as a videoconference between Geneva and New York. This was the third meeting of the Task Force this year. Among items addressed were: training, reprinting the AIDS information booklet for staff, provision of drugs and PEP (post-exposure prevention kits). FICSA welcomes the increased attention given to HIV/AIDS issues that concern UN system staff.

    ...Urged executive heads to agree on cost-sharing for security measures

11. FICSA again urged all executive heads to ensure that an agreement is reached at the next meeting of the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM - 10 and 11 September 2001) on the cost-sharing formula for an enhanced central security system. Some organizations that do not have field offices had balked at being expected to share the costs of staff security.

    ...Organized a workshop on the methodology for General Service salary surveys in Quito (Ecuador)

12. A salary survey workshop was held in Quito from 20 to 24 August. The Federation would like to express its appreciation to Mr. Osvaldo Bastida who served as the expert/resource person for the workshop.

    ...Requested the European Commission to promote core labour standards

13. Following the publication of a communication on the European Commission's strategy to promote core labour standards and social governance globally, the President wrote to Commissioners Anna Diamantopoulou and Pascal Lamy to request the Commission to similarly promote core labour standards within the intergovernmental organizations (see FICSA Update No. 39).

    ...Requested application of an ILOAT judgment to all eligible staff in New Delhi

14. FICSA requested the Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (WHO/SEARO) and the directors of other UN system offices in New Delhi to apply to all eligible staff the decision in the Rana judgment (No. 2030) of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization (ILOAT). The decision calls for compensation to be paid for the loss of pension benefits resulting from the payment of a lump sum rather than an increase in salary, following a salary survey.

    ...Requested the Commissioner-General of UNRWA to ensure that due process is respected

15. FICSA provided detailed information to the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near-East (UNRWA) on due process in audits and investigations, in an effort to ensure that the fundamental right to due process and fair procedures is fully respected. It had been reported to FICSA that staff members who had undergone an audit or investigation were denied access to reports and the right to respond in their own defense.

    ...Provided an analysis to UNESCO staff on the re-calculation of salary scales

16. Following the Director General's decision to accept the recommendation of the internal appeals board that the CSG and CRDS (social charges imposed by the French government) should not be factored as a tax into the calculation of General Service salaries, FICSA provided an analysis of the question of the correction of the General Service salary scales for 1997 onwards. The analysis should assist staff in verifying the validity of proposals made by the administration.

17. Information was also provided on the reimbursement by the organizations of the taxes levied by the United States of America on United Nations salaries. Several staff at UNESCO have launched appeals concerning reimbursement of US income tax.

    ...Addressed freedom of association at the UN Staff College (UNSC)

18. The United Nations Staff College will de-link from the International Training Centre of the ILO to become a separate organization effective 1 January 2002. Staff who were formerly ILO staff members will become UNSC staff, and their conditions of service will be governed by the United Nations Staff Regulations and Rules. This will have a direct impact on the ITCILO Staff Union and the representation of staff at the two organizations. FICSA provided advice to the Staff Union, and supported its efforts to challenge an attempt by a senior administrator to direct the creation of a new separate staff union.

19. FICSA also requested Mr. Dilip Nair, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Office of Internal Oversight Services, to investigate "the management of UNSC, in the interest of improving its long-term viability" to reinforce an earlier request made by UNSC staff.

    ...Made arrangements for a legal study of WHO proposals for contract reform

20. A number of legal experts were contacted on behalf of the Staff Association of the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO/EURO) to assist the association in ensuring that any new contractual arrangements are in the best interests of the staff.

    ...And...

21. Information was provided to the Association of Professional Staff of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) on the rental subsidy scheme. The post adjustment increase in Rome had led to an increase in the rent threshold.

22. Information on how to establish a staff association was provided to FAO staff in Barbados.

23. Legal advice was provided to a staff member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

24. A request was sent to the Executive Director of UNICEF concerning the contractual situation of a staff member in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

25. Information on the sharing of medical insurance premiums between organizations and staff was sent to the Staff Association of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

26. Advice and assistance were given to a staff member of WFP on her contractual situation and payment of salary and allowances.

27. Legal advice was given to a staff member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

28. FICSA prepared a detailed report on the discussions that took place in the Standing Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board (UNJSPB) on the status report on developments concerning the Transfer Agreements between the Fund and the former USSR, Ukrainian SSR and Byelorussian SSR, and provided it to the Association of Former International Civil Servants of Moscow (AFICS/Moscow).

    Good news for pensions...

29. Our colleagues from WHO/EURO received a legally-binding advance notice from the Danish "Assessment Council" according to which certain United Nations pensions (notably those acquired through affiliation to the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund on or after 18 February 1992) would not have to be included in the calculation of taxable income. A detailed study of the notice is required to determine its precise scope and implications.

    ...And Sad News

30. We have the sad duty to announce the death, at his desk at the ILO on 24 August, of our colleague Roger Beattie. Roger served as General Secretary of FICSA, for two mandates in 1987-88

    "Roger was one of the ILO’s (and before that, the ISSA’s) foremost social protection experts, a Union and staff representative at every level, a committed political activist. He was a family man, a talented musician, an enthusiast for the great outdoors. But there was much more to him than that.

    "It may sound quaint in today’s cynical world, but Roger was a decent human being [...]"

    [To be published in Union of September 2001]