20 March 2002
Since the FICSA Council, the new FICSA Executive Committee has participated actively in debates about reforms in the pay and benefits system, continued to discuss the functioning of FICSA and assisted member associations/unions.
Paris, 24 February to 1 March
Janice Albert, General Secretary, May Hansen, Regional Member for Europe, Varghese Joseph, Chairman of the Standing Committee on General Service Questions, and Françoise Plivard, President of the WMO Staff Association, formed the FICSA delegation to the meeting which was held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Staff representatives from the ILO and UNIDO attended the working group meeting on behalf of their organizations’ delegations. A number of FICSA members sent comments on the background papers for the working group which was highly appreciated by the FICSA delegates.
This was the second working group on reform in the pay and benefits system. If approved by the ICSC and the General Assembly, the proposals will have significant implications for the careers of UN system staff. FICSA welcomed the proposal to update the Master Standard, improve management practices, establish dual career ladders to distinguish management and technical functions and expand opportunities for career development. We stated that FICSA could not accept the elimination of steps and we questioned the usefulness of broad banding and a senior executive service. We favoured the application of the Noblemaire Principle and improvements in pay for hazardous posts which would benefit many staff rather than large cash bonuses given to a few individuals.
FICSA will continue to consult with its members on these topics and participate in discussions on the proposed reforms at the ICSC sessions in April and July. The background documents on this meeting are available on the ICSC website icsc.un.org/.
Taking advantage of the presence of the FICSA delegates and the Chairman of ICSC in Paris, members of the Geneva Local Salary Survey Committee (LSSC) requested a meeting to discuss the upcoming salary survey and methodological problems. Later, FICSA sent letters to the ICSC on behalf of the LSSC to express our desire that the recommendations of the Geneva staff be taken into consideration.
While in Paris, the FICSA General Secretary and Regional Member for Europe, as well as representatives of FICSA member associations/unions, were invited to attend the STU Council. There was a discussion about financial contributions to FICSA. This matter will continue to be addressed throughout the year as FICSA members consider ways to improve the functioning of FICSA.
On behalf of FICSA, the General Secretary and Research and Liaison Officer attended a meeting of the HLCM in New York. FICSA had the opportunity to highlight key concerns related to the proposals on pay and benefits, security and HIV/AIDS. We urged the HLCM to take up the issue of harassment, especially in field duty stations. There was a constructive dialogue about these issues and ways to foster participation of staff representatives in policy discussions. A full report of the meeting is available from the FICSA Secretariat.