SHARE
COPY LINK

UN

UN Geneva staff plan work stoppage over pay cuts

Angered by "unfair" pay cuts, UN staff in Geneva are planning a half-day strike next week, as dozens of ministers and other dignitaries attend high-level events at the organisation's European headquarters.

UN Geneva staff plan work stoppage over pay cuts
The headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Photo: AFP

“We have tried other forms of protest before, to no avail… They have left us no choice,” Ian Richards, who heads the UN staff unions association in Geneva, told AFP Sunday.

He said it remained unclear how many of some 9,500 UN staff members in Geneva would participate in Tuesday's work stoppage, or what impact it would have, pointing out that “this is not like a bus company where the buses just stop.”

“But we certainly expect this to have an impact,” Richards said.

The half-day work stoppage will come during what is arguably one of the busiest weeks of the year at the UN in Geneva, with around 100 heads of state, government ministers and country representatives from around the world set to attend the main annual sessions of the UN's top human rights and disarmament bodies.

Speaking on behalf of the UN in Geneva, spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told AFP in an email that staff should be “reminded that actions which disrupt or interfere with official activity of the Organisation may be considered contravening staff obligations.”

She stressed though that “UN Geneva recognises and respects the right of staff to freedom of association and acknowledges the dissatisfaction of staff” linked to pay cuts.

She said “contingency plans” had been put in place to “minimise the consequences of the possible work stoppage in a period of intense diplomatic activity” at the UN in Geneva.

According to a letter sent to all UN agency chiefs late last week, Tuesday will mark only “a first day of action, (and will) be followed by others.”

The letter, sent by the unions and representatives of civil servants working for the UN, went out as staff received their first pay slips showing a 3.5-percent salary cut, and with the knowledge that the cut will swell to five percent by June, Richards said.

The signatories said staff had “lost confidence” in the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) — a body appointed by the UN General Assembly to govern UN employees which has ordered deep cuts to pay and benefits for many staff around the globe.

There has been a “substantial deterioration in the employment conditions of UN staff around the world, caused by ICSC's findings, recommendations and decisions,” the letter complained, accusing the body of pursuing an “austerity agenda driven by certain member states.”

Although the letter did not mention the member states by name, the United States, which has long been the top UN contributor, is clearly among them.

Since President Donald Trump, a vocal UN critic, took office last year, Washington has demanded significant belt-tightening and has threatened deep budget cuts to many UN agencies.

UN employees are by contract the highest paid civil servants in the world, with their tax-free salaries often complemented by multiple benefits including subsidies for rent, healthcare and educational grants for their children.

Richards said some review and reform of the UN payment system was not unreasonable, but insisted that “it has to be done in a transparent, balanced and fair way.”

For Geneva, ICSC initially said last year a 7.5-percent pay cut was warranted after determining that the cost of living adjustment given to staffers in the pricy Swiss city was excessive.

The unions, which mounted protests over what they termed “significant errors and methodological flaws” in the body's calculations, said they eventually received assurances the cuts would be only 2-3 percent.

“Now finally it is five percent, so the ICSC has gone back on its word,” Richards said.

He stressed that Geneva staff were not the only ones feeling the squeeze.

Staff in Bangkok have for instance been informed of a 10-percent cut, while staff in Tokyo are looking at 25 percent, without sufficient justification, he said.

The letter also noted the many unanswered questions “surrounding the application of the methodology for the local salary surveys in Bangkok, New York, Tokyo and New Delhi among others, leading to unjustified, unfair and hard to manage… salary scales.”

“The reputation of the UN as a leading employer that treats its staff with respect and fairness has been tarnished,” it warned.

READ ALSO: UN urges Switzerland to fight harder against discrimination and racism

For members

TRAIN TRAVEL

Why the ‘strategic’ Geneva to Lyon train line needs drastic improvement

Commuters on trains between Geneva and Lyon (and vice versa) have had to face a number of problems over the years. But there is a new move to drastically improve the service.

Why the 'strategic' Geneva to Lyon train line needs drastic improvement

The train services circulating several times a day between Switzerland’s second-largest city and Lyon in France are used by thousands of commuters on both sides of the border.

But these trains, operated by France’s national railway company SNCF, as well as the country’s regional rail network,TER, are subpar, according to Swiss Green Party MP Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini, who has brought this issue to Switzerland’s Federal Council.

She has sounded the alarm over the fact that many of the trains circulating between these two major cities are in poor condition, and she says the rail infrastructure on the French side of the border is dilapidated and in need of urgent upgrading.

Not only are these trains uncomfortable for passengers, Klopfenstein Broggini argues, but the outdated infrastructure also means that additional trains can’t be put into circulation.

“This link is strategic for Switzerland, as it is its gateway to southwest Europe,” Klopfenstein Broggini pointed out, so improvements on this 112-km-long line “must therefore become a priority” for the government.

What exactly is she pushing for?

“My primary goal is that there should be more, but less obsolete, direct trains running on this line,” the MP said.

“Today, there are around thirty trains which connect Zurich to Stuttgart every day. But on the Geneva to Lyon line, there are only around ten. There should be twice as many, which would alleviate the [overcrowding] situation a lot.”

But that’s not all: she also wants Swiss trains to be put into service on this line for more efficiency.

“I am also asking if it would be possible for Bern to invest in rolling stock on this line, so as to ensure its maintenance, or even its operation, in collaboration with France,” she added.

The SBB operates trains from Geneva to Milan, so Swiss trains could also run to Lyon, Klopfenstein Broggini said.

“This would be in Switzerland’s interest,” she added.

And there would also be another benefit in a more efficient train connecting Geneva with Lyon, according to the MP.

If the infrastructure were in better shape and the trains more modern, the two-hour journey between the two cities could be shortened.

That would make the commute more appealing to some of the 220,000 cross-border workers who commute to their jobs in Geneva from France by car.

“The goal is to transfer some of these motorists from road to rail,” the MP said.

The next step is for the Federal Council to discuss Klopfenstein Broggini’s proposal.

SHOW COMMENTS