23 July 2015
Members of the Joint
Staff Pension Board,
We
have the honour to present to you below a petition signed by more than 3,176
participants and beneficiaries of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund,
requesting that you maintain in place the current system of checks and
balances that has allowed the Fund to thrive over the past 65 years when
many public pension funds have failed.
This
petition follows a previous petition in May 2014 initiated by the United
Nations Office in Geneva, which was signed by more than 13,000 Fund
participants and beneficiaries.
We
are aware that the Pension Board requested a review of, and adjustments as
needed, to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Fund Secretariat
and the Office of Human Resources Management that provides for certain
administrative flexibilities to the Chief Executive Officer in human resources
management, including recruitment, retention, mobility, and classification of
posts.
However,
the proposed changes requested by the CEO go much further than mere adjustments
to the current MOU requested by the Pension Board and would in fact result in a
virtual delegation of authority in human resources matters to the CEO, while
allowing him to assume authority over staff in the Investment Management
Division.
Even
if this is done in consultation with the Representative of the
Secretary-General for Investments (RSG), such a change will compromise the long
established rule in the Pension Fund of keeping the liabilities and investments
completely separate.
We
believe, as do the Presidents of the Staff Union, CCISUA, and FICSA, that
the MOU currently in effect already contains all the administrative flexibility
needed for efficient operation of the Fund. Granting further authority or
autonomy to the Chief Executive Officer does not serve the interests of
efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of Fund operations. We were
encouraged by the recent announcement by the Under-Secretary-General for
Management, Mr. Takasu, that finalization of the draft MOU has been placed on
hold to allow for more dialogue and consultations among all concerned
parties.
Equally
worrisome for both participants and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund, are
the disquieting media reports of a movement on the part of the Fund toward more
outsourcing and alternative investments. In this regard, the President of the
Association of Former International Civil Servants (AFICS) told us at a meeting
on 17 June 2015 that the RSG for Investments, herself, leaked information to
the press in this regard.
While
there have been assurances from the RSG and other senior UN officials,
including Chef de Cabinet, Malcorra and the ASG for Human Resources, Wainaina,
that there is no basis for reports of a movement toward riskier investment
policies, and that the redrafted MOU contains no implications for breaching the
current structure of the Fund, there remains sufficient information to the
contrary to leave many participants and beneficiaries concerned about the
future health of the Fund.
We
are sending you this petition with the request that you oppose any proposals,
including in a redrafted MOU, that could affect the current bifurcated
structure of the Fund, or remove Pension Fund staff
from the protections of the UN recruitment and promotion system. We
are also requesting that you reject any movement toward increasing the size of
the Fund’s portfolio in risky alternative investments such as hedge funds, in
order to ensure that the continuing health and viability of this most important
benefit to United Nations staff are protected and preserved for current and
future participants and beneficiaries.
Sincerely,
Loraine
Rickard-Martin Lowell
Flanders
Curling
Smith Anna
Theofilopoulou
Attachments:
Petition
signers as of 23 July 2015
Petition text per Avaaz
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