Unlawfulness at our Pension Fund: UN Dispute Tribunal to CEO: The UN is not a private corporation! 28 December 2016

Recently there was the General Assembly resolution (A/C.5/71/L.6), the reports of the Board of Auditors (A/71/5/Add.16), the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ, A/71/621) and the leaked report of the the OIOS audit of the backlog in pension payments (links to articles about these reports are available on this blog). 

The current dispute about the selection of a candidate for a D-1 vacancy in the Pension Fund Secretariat is yet another example of a Chief Executive Officer who operates as if he’s running his own private corporation and that UN Rules and Regulations are dispensable.

The UN Dispute Tribunal has now twice suspended action on a contested decision by the CEO to select a P-5 OIOS staff member for a vacant D1 post in the UNJSPF (Chief, Information Management Systems Service). The UN Appeals Tribunal dismissed the Administration's appeal (Judgment No. 2016-UNAT-709, 28 October 2016). 

The Tribunal found that the hiring managers were biased, the outcome was predetermined and that “the requirement of prima facie unlawfulness” was satisfied.

What happens next?  Does the Management Evaluation Unit (MEU),  expected to make a decision early in January 2017, select the P-5 candidate for the post a third time, finding yet another reason to uphold the selection of the CEO’s favorite OIOS auditor, in flagrant disregard of the Tribunal's determination of bias, predetermination and unlawfulness in the selection process?

Stay tuned. (See more on the story below, including links to the two Dispute Tribunal decisions and the Appeal Tribunal's judgment, all in the public domain.)

CCISUA: Good news as General Assembly puts stop to removal of Pension Fund from UN, 20 December 2016

GOOD NEWS AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY PUTS STOP TO REMOVAL OF PENSION FUND FROM UN

We are pleased to inform you that the General Assembly has listened to your concerns and is taking formal action to address the problems at the UN pension fund.

In its draft resolution, to be formally adopted this week, the General Assembly:

• Rejects new financial rules proposed by the fund’s board. We had argued that the rules would pave the way for the removal of the fund from the UN, allow the fund to choose an alternative auditor to OIOS, and circumvent UN rules on procurement.

Pension Fund -- the "peaks and valleys" rollercoaster ride, cartoon by Matthew Chip Bhima Hogan, December 12, 2016

OIOS audit report shows mismanagement cover up at the Fund, 9 December 2016

Reminder: Pension Fund Townhall, today, 9 December 2016, 1.15 pm in conference room 4, UNHQ New York

The CCISUA (Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions) President posted today the following message (text and link below):   

The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) calls for, in a leaked audit report, "critical" corrective action on key aspects of the Fund's work. In fact, critical corrective action is needed to put an end to the incompetence and the cover up of incompetence by the CEO, by the Pension Board, and by our retiree representative organization, FAFICS/AFICS, which you will recall, wrote to OIOS on 1 June 2016, suggesting that the audit was a bad idea. We, the participants and beneficiaries -- in fact, the owners -- of the Fund have been failed by the Fund management, by the Pension Board, and by our retiree organization, FAFICS/AFICS, and it all happened with UN management apparently asleep at the switch. It's time for corrective action across the board, including new participant representatives (elections will be held next year). It's time for change. Enough is enough.

UNOG spoke up at the pension fund townhall in Geneva - here's what happened next. 6 December 2016

We spoke up for you at the pension fund townhall - here is what happened next

• 

Published on Tuesday, 06 December 2016 16:56

Last Friday, the pension fund chairman and CEO came to UNOG to reassure staff that all is well. It involved a verbose presentation of 40 minutes before questions were allowed.

The Council then made a strong statement 
http://staffcoordinatingcouncil.org/attachments/article/403/Speech%20at%20UNJSPF%20townhall.pdf
on behalf of staff describing the pain of those retirees who have had to wait to be paid, the lack of clarity on 
the true size of the backlog of payments, the silence and opaqueness surrounding Fund operations, and the risks to the pension fund arising from the new financial rules. 

The fund chairman interrupted your staff representative partway through and admonished her for making 
a “political” speech, to which she asked to continue noting the right to freedom of speech on behalf of 
all of the staff. This was met with applause from staff. 

In addition, staff representatives asked why: 

• In May 2016 the Fund stated that the backlog had been eliminated, yet during the meeting the Fund 
• stated that there were 600 actionable cases. Every message on the size of the backlog has seemed contradictory. Where is the trust?
• When would the OIOS audit report on the backlog, reportedly currently in the hands of the Fund, be published?
• When the new IPAS IT system was implemented, why there wasn’t a back-up plan to ensure newly 
• retiring staff would be paid? Pension fund staff told that council that management ignored warnings 
• on this. Given the CEO’s performance, why was the board recommending renewal of his contract?
• What was the board hiding from staff, given that it had asked board members to sign a confidentiality agreement, including on new financial rules and the pension fund budget?

Other staff members took to floor reiterating the right of staff representatives to speak on behalf of UNOG staff, noting the move toward risky financial investments and their concerns with the fund’s irresponsible investments in arms and tobacco.

These questions were neither directly nor clearly addressed by the CEO and Chair. Following more defensive and circuitous replies from the fund’s managers, many staff left Room XX perplexed, insulted, concerned and no clearer about developments at the Fund. 

The events at the townhall came the same week that the General Assembly, having listened to our concerns 
and examined the evidence, admonished the fund’s management for its poor leadership and performance. 
Their statements are below:

G-77 and China: 
http://www.un.org/en/ga/fifth/71/Statements/142.%20UN%20Pension%20System/C5_71_0m_ST_2016_11_28_Item142_UN%20Pension%20Sys_Thailand%20(G77%20and%20China).pdf

European Union: http://www.un.org/en/ga/fifth/71/Statements/142.%20UN%20Pension%20System/C5_71_0m_ST_2016_11_28_Item142_UN%20Pension%20Sys_European%20Union.pdf


United States: http://www.un.org/en/ga/fifth/71/Statements/142.%20UN%20Pension%20System/C5_71_0m_ST_2016_11_28_Item142_UN%20Pension%20Sys_United%20States.pdf

In addition, the Board of Auditors concluded to the General Assembly that:

"the UNJSPF has not taken any proactive steps to mitigate its foreign exchange losses, which amounted to $1.49 billion during the current year ($1.96 billion in 2014). The mechanism of decision making in the investment management division needs to be strengthened by filling up the vacancies in decision making positions, and taking steps to improve performance and reduce losses. There is scope for improvement in the benefit processing and client services particularly in redressing the complaints of the beneficiaries. The Fund should take proactive steps in collaboration with member organisations to expedite the receipt of documents required for calculating and awarding pension benefits."

 http://www.un.org/en/ga/fifth/71/Statements/142.%20UN%20Pension%20System/C5_71_0m_ST_2016_11_28_Item142_UN%20Pension%20Sys_Chair%20BOA%20AOC.pdf


The Council, and our federation, CCISUA, will continue to expose the problems at the fund and meet with member states to find a solution to the fund’s problems. All staff should be able to retire knowing they will be paid promptly and that the funds are there to do so.

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ACABQ voices serious concerns regarding Fund performance, 3 December 2016

STATEMENTS MADE DURING THE 71ST SESSION OF THE FIFTH COMMITTEE

Note: Important to read the full statement of the Director of External Audit. (LINK BELOW; report symbol is A/71/5, Vol. 1)

Read in full other statements as well LINK TO FULL STATEMENTS BELOW).

SOME STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTS: A total of nine temporary positions should be sufficient to address the additional workload; there is insufficient justification for the creation of two P- 5 positions, including the Senior Communications Officer; in 2015 the Fund did not meet its long-term target of an annualized real rate of return of 3.5 per cent; reiterates its concern regarding the high number of vacant posts; seriously concerned about continued investment underperformance; seriously concerned about the effect of vacant posts on investment underperformance; emphasize strengthening internal control and oversight and “strongly discourages any attempt to create a separate entity or use he external consultants in this regard”; serious concern about the backlog in pension payments and request additional information on provisional payments; look forward to the OIOS audit and results of the end-to-end review, and trust there will be lessons learned by the Fund; create a mechanism for more frequent review of underperforming securities; “establish the client query and complaint redressal system structures as recommended by the Board, and ensure and ensure that the quality of the customer service provided is monitored and adjusted as needed;" in the absence of approved guidelines for the selection of external managers, the Fund may "miss the opportunity to hire better external managers and to negotiate more favourable terms and condition."

ACABQ report highlights Fund shortcomings on the backlog and investment performance, 3 December 2016

REPORT AND EXCERPTS FROM ACABQ REPORT: “United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund”:

Report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, A/71/621, 18 November 2016

NOTE: READ THE FULL REPORT (LINK BELOW)

SOME HIGHLIGHTS: Fund should have undertaken end-to-end review (regarding backlog in pension payments) earlier; increase in the number of separations and associated claims could have been anticipated; insufficient justification for approval of a Senior Communications Officer (P5); Fund should expeditiously fill vacant posts; deficit trend will return if investment performance does not achieve or exceed 3.5 per cent real rate of return and Fund must make efforts to meet this objective; corrective measures to be taken on IPAs implementation; Fund must fill or rejustify high number of vacant posts; Fund must report regularly on social and environmental investments of the Fund; SG report to provide information on the performance of the Representative of the Secretary-General (head of IMD); recommendations of the Board of Auditors are unimplemented or ‘in progress’; the Fund must implement all recommendations of the Board of Auditors expeditiously.

Questions for the CEO, Sergio Arvizu, at the UNJSPF Town Hall meeting, 9 December 2016 (27 November 2016)

Attend the UNJSPF Town Hall meeting at UN HQ New York, on Friday, 9 December (details below) prepared to ask questions about the audit by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into the unprecedented and protracted backlog in pension payments, and many more. 

UN Pension Blog received a UN Intranet message on 25 November 2016 stating that the Pension Fund will hold a town hall meeting on Friday, 9 December 2016 (details below).

Please attend prepared to ask  questions, including those contained in an open letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the UNJSPF, Sergio Arvizu, dated 21 December 2016 titled “Human suffering and the backlog in pension payments”.

http://unpension.blogspot.com/2016/11/open-letter-to-sergio-arvizu-ceo-un.html

Questions for the Senior Communications Officer, UN Pension Fund, November 17, 2016

November 17, 2016

Dear Mr. Woodyear,

This is in reference to your almost 1,500-word (1,493) post on FCUNS yesterday. Perhaps you could, as Senior Communications Officer of the UNJSPF, and as part of your job to “promote clear, easy to understand information to participants and beneficiaries of the Fund” provide answers to the following questions, most, if not all, related to issues you raise in your statement.

Backlog in pension payments

1. A recent iSeek report noted that as of 1 October 2016, there are 674 ‘actionable’ cases of new initial separations pending processing by the Fund. How many other cases are awaiting processing, i.e., "pending receipt of additional information from organizations and/or the separated staff members, as well as a number of deferred pensions (through choice), special cases (such as survivor benefits, child benefits), recalculation cases"?

Open letter to Sergio Arvizu, CEO, UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, Human suffering and the backlog in pension payments, November 21, 2016

21 November 2016

Dear Mr. Arvizu,

Subject: Human suffering and the backlog in pension payments; the UN deserves better than this

I would like to highlight the concern that I believe motivates many retirees and no doubt UN staff federation representatives, while I do not presume to speak for either group, about one of the seemingly overlooked issues related to the Fund, i.e, the human reality behind the payment backlog.

Many of us have concerns when we read newsletters and other reports about Fund activities, about whether sufficient priority is given to addressing the plight of suffering new retirees, separated staff and survivors behind ‘non-actionable’ cases, where some have lost their houses, where others have died while waiting, where vulnerable widows and orphans continue to wait in vain.

The United Nations is an organization based on “human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person.” Yet, there are currently vast numbers of former staff and their families and survivors, who are enduring untold suffering, many for more than a year, because of delays in receiving their pension and separation payments to which they are entitled by dint of their toil, and in many cases, by dint of their blood, for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duties.

PLEASE NOTE: THE VENUE FOR THE NOT-THE-AFICS LUNCHEON HAS CHANGED. RESERVATIONS ARE CLOSED. IF YOU'VE ALREADY RESERVED A SPACE AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN EMAIL WITH THE NEW INFORMATION, PLEASE EMAIL  UNPENSIONBLOG.INFO@GMAIL.COM.  

Dear AFICS/NY members,

You’ve recently received an invitation from AFICS/NY (Association of Former International Civil Servants of the United Nations) to a fall luncheon at 12.30 pm on Tuesday, 15 November 2016, at Al Bustan Restaurant.

Lowell Flanders and I invite you to attend a ‘Not-the-AFICS Luncheon’ at the same time and on the same date, at the UN Delegates Dining Room, where we propose to discuss ways to advance our efforts to move AFICS/NY toward more inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability toward its dues-paying membership.

UN Special: Problems continue at the UN Pension Fund, 8 November 2016

Loraine Rickard-Martin

In the spring we briefed you on trouble at the top of the pension fund. Over a tumultuous summer, matters only got worse.

“There’s a huge problem of competence in the functioning of the Fund and Board. We must stop pretending it is fine. When someone fails they should not be rated as successful, when people are not paid we should not pretend things are fine.”
Egor Ovtcharenko, CCISUA Vice President, Conditions of Service.

From a New York perspective, the annual Pension board meeting taking place in Vienna last July seemed to unfold in an amped up atmosphere of outreach and transparency. During the week-long meeting, the Fund’s new Chief Communications Officer (COO) posted almost daily updates on a Facebook page for former and current UN staff members, with spirited exchanges taking place from time to time. A communiqué from the Board at the end of the week provided assurances that “the Fund is safe and its future is secure” and it is “able to meet its pension and benefit payment obligations over the long term.” The reassurances were welcome, although the current health of the Fund has never been in doubt. Rather, the issue has been on ensuring its continued health for current and future generations of UN retirees.

READ MORE HERE:https://www.unspecial.org/2016/11/problems-continue-at-the-pension-fund/

Sorry for the delay in posting comments. Please keep them coming!

Dear readers,

Apologies for delays in posting your comments. This blog is almost 18 months old and for most of its life, there were very few if any comments, which caused us to be lax in checking and posting comments. We're now doing that regularly and your comments, some several months old, have now been posted under the appropriate article. Sorry about that. For those of you whose comments included questions, we'll get back to you soonest. Please keep the comments coming.

Thank you.

CCCISUA President to Fifth Committee: Recommend search for new CEO and review governance, 27 October 2016

CCISUA PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT TO THE FIFTH COMMITTEE (TOPICS: SEPARATION PAYMENTS, COMPENSATION REVIEW, SECURITY STAFF, PENSION FUND CRISIS).

"Statement to the Fifth Committee – Common System agenda item Delivered by Ian Richards, President of the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA) At the United Nations Headquarters, New York Thursday 27 October 2016

Excellencies, distinguished delegates.

Firstly Madam Chair, allow me to congratulate you for your election.

Separation payments

We support separation payments for staff whose fixed term appointment is not renewed after ten years of continuous service.

We note that staff who have continuing appointments and staff whose fixed term appointments are cut short receive termination indemnities related to length of service, substituting for them not receiving unemployment benefit in their home country. However, those whose fixed-term appointments aren’t renewed, even after 10 or 20 years of high performing service, receive nothing.

CCISUA briefing on pension matters: it's our Fund (we own it)-- get involved and act for change, 11 October 2016

CCISUA Bureau (Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System) briefing on UN Pension Fund matters,

Friday, 7 October 2016, 1.15 to 2.45 pm, Conference room 11

Present: Ian Richards, CCISUA President, Egor Ovtcharenko, CCISUA Vice-President, Conditions of Service, Barbara Tavora-Jainchill, UN Staff Union President

UN staff federations took their concerns about moves to privatize the Fund to the annual Pension Board meeting held in Vienna in July 2016. Last Friday, CCISUA briefed staff at UN HQ New York on issues of continuing concern, including chronically elusive information about the extent and status of the protracted backlog in pension payments; fractious staff management relations in the Fund; retaliation against Fund staff; investment underperformance; lack of oversight and control over investment outsourcing; issues of competency and oversight in the Board coupled with increased secrecy in its activities; a need for major structural changes to preserve the health of the Fund; and some ways that the owners/stakeholder can help to bring about necessary change.

Tsunamis of management practice, not natural disasters, beset the UN Pension Fund, 8 September 2016

Comment (posted on the Passblue website) in response to article 'Skeptics Still Question the Status of the UN's $54 Billion Pension Fund (link below):

In “Skeptics Still Question the Status of the UN’s $54 Billion Pension Fund” (link below), Susan Manuel does a credible job exposing the problems roiling the Fund, but in the telling, assigns accountability nowhere and to no one. First, the title is somewhat curious: “Skeptics still question….”. Skepticism, as in “inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions” can be a useful trait. However, “still” implies that in the face of irrefutable evidence, some of us persist in our stubborn refusal to accept truths in front of our noses.

Rather, what the skeptics among us don’t accept is “received wisdom”, i.e., “knowledge or information that people generally believe is true, although in fact it is often false”. And we know that much of what’s proffered as truth about the Fund is false, because there’s copious evidence to the contrary.

UN Pension Fund - New member service, 5 September 2016

UN Pension Blog received this message yesterday in an email from a retired UN colleague:

UNJSPF Member Self Service

I have been complaining for more than 18 years that the Pension Fund website did not allow participants and beneficiaries access to see their gross pension amount as well as ASHI (After Service Health Insurance) deductions, etc. As of a  few days ago, the UNJSPF now offers this service. 

In order to access the service, one logs on to the UNJSPF site, click on 'Beneficiary' or 'Participant' and click on 'Member Self Service' on the top left side of the screen. One must get a new number (as per instructions) and log on! 

Pension matters: Retirement funds searching for better returns, 26 August 2016

Canada quietly treads radical path on pensions

Retirement funds are pushing beyond bonds and stocks in search of better returns

Among the assets controlled by Canadian pension funds are lottery operators, including Camelot; airports and toll roads including the Chicago Skyway; and vast property portfolios in New York and London © Getty Images; Bloomberg

YESTERDAY 

by: Mary Childs and John Authers August 25, 2016

More on investment performance and Fund health, August 17, 2016

MORE ON INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE AND FUND HEALTH: Quote from CCISUA article posted below:  "The previous Chair of the Fund assured staff that the Fund owed its healthy position in part to contributions made by participants being twice the current payments to retirees. In reality, as confirmed by the annual report, contributions are around the same level as payments. In time, as retirees exceed contributors, payments may exceed contributions. It is not a time to be complacent.

Looking ahead, it is clear that the Fund is facing a number of challenges in terms of leadership, governance, investment performance and its ability to pay retirees. In addition, further evidence has come to light regarding:

the UN’s reduced oversight of the Fund’s investments; and
the inability of the Fund’s auditors, more used to auditing governments and international organizations, to understand the unique challenges of a pension fund."

UN Pension Fund: Payment delays continue amid outsourcing of investments, August 17, 2016

UN PENSION FUND NEWS: PAYMENT DELAYS CONTINUE AMID OUTSOURCING OF INVESTMENTS

EXCERPT:

READ ARTICLE HERE:

http://www.ccisua.org/2016/08/17/3732/

Pension Fund - Lack of common sense solutions cause delays in paying new retirees, August 14, 2016

Post on Former and Current UN Staff Facebook Page, by Michelle Rockcliffe, August 14, 2016

UNSPC (UN Staff Pension Committee)

Each biennium the United Nations pays the Pension Fund more than $20 million as the Fund is also the local secretariat for the UN Family (Secretariat, Funds and Programs). The CEO of the Fund is also the Secretary of the UN Staff Pension Committee responsible for a reported 86,000+ participants of the UN.
Published financial statements show that the Fund did not use its entire budget, with savings and had an average of 15 to 20 vacancies at any given time for many years. Both the ACABQ and BOA have highlighted the vacancies..

Yet we find ourselves at a juncture where thousands of former participants and their dependents or survivors have waited or are still waiting months or years or to receive benefits from the Fund, some even dying in the process of waiting.

ALM Committee: Pension Fund exposed to significant governance, investment, operational and compliance risks, 19 July 2016

Pension matters: Inconvenient truths, image and reality, 19 July 2016

As fast as the Fund leadership’s public relations apparatus scrambles to plug the holes in the narrative, they keep popping up in the most inconvenient places. The phenomenon recalls a very effective booklet the UN published a few decades ago, titled “Image and Reality”, a valiant effort to replace myths about the UN with factual and verifiable information.

Offered here are some of the public relations “images” that are so strenuously perpetrated, and for each, its concomitant reality check. Recall that this 'truthiness gap' is the backdrop against which our Fund leadership is pushing for ever more power over staff management, procurement, and outsourcing of investments and fees paid to external managers. (Please sign the petition to protect our fund if you haven't already done so).

UN staff unions' petition to Pension Board and Secretary-General reaches 13,000 signatures. Keep signing to protect our Fund, 18 July 2016

Quote from our UN staff unions post yesterday titled “Despite the mismanagement at our pension fund, its board is about to reward its management with more autonomy through new financial rules and more senior posts": "It is clear that the pension fund’s leadership has not been candid with the Board and other stakeholders.” 

Other reliable sources provide equally clear indication that both the CEO and the RSG in their strenuous lobbying of Board members have glossed over major deficiencies on their respective sides of the Fund, including low investment performance; and reliably reported investment in arms and tobacco on the IMD side; and on the Fund Secretariat side, a protracted dispute involving DM, the staff unions, and the CEO about the causes and extent of the backlog in pension payments.

Despite mismanagement, Pension Board about to reward management with more autonomy", 17 July 2016

The annual Pension Board meeting is currently taking place in Vienna. If the vote for new revised financial rules goes through, as the CCISUA President indicates is likely (see article below titled “Despite the mismanagement at our pension fund, its board is about to reward its management with more autonomy through new financial rules and more senior posts”), even more power will be placed in the hands of those who so far have given every indication that it will be abused for their own self-interest.

Have no doubt: we pay for the management's lobbying efforts to sway Pension Board members to give them more of what they want -- power to do as they please with our retirement savings. We pay for the Price Waterhouse study that gave the Fund management top marks for its failed IPAS management.  We pay for the CEO's senior P5 communications chief and we will pay for the new senior posts the CEO is asking the Board to approve but "not at the junior level where the hard work is being done". It all comes from our hard-earned retirement savings.

Fund in crisis: Just the facts, please! Act now to protect our Fund, sign the petition, 15 July 2016

The annual Pension Board meeting started yesterday, 14 July 2016, in Vienna. There’s no time to lose to act to counter the well-oiled political machine that’s intent on taking our Fund in increasingly risky directions, and seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to achieve its objectives.

As a single example, consider the CEO’s message posted on the Fund website yesterday

 “It has become routine over the last few years that different groups, and specifically UN Staff Unions, lobby the Pension Fund Board before and during its annual meeting. Often the statements, which are widely circulated, create anxiety. Regardless of the information that you may hear, the facts, as being presented to the Board, are that the financial health of the Fund is solid, indeed it is expected that the latest actuarial valuation results will show a positive trend.” (link below)

UN staff unions petition to the Pension Board and the Secretary-General: Protect our pension fund! 11 July 2016

The annual Pension Board meeting will take place in Vienna from 14 to 22 July. Today, our staff unions launched a campaign and a petition calling on the Board members and the Secretary-General to “Refuse the new financial rules that remove the fund from the UN and allow outsourcing of investments; protect the independence of fund staff by rescinding the new human resources policy; [and] pay new retirees on time” (see link below to the statement and petition).

The CEO reportedly returned last week from a swing through European capitals with his entourage (Deputy CEO, Legal Adviser and brand new Chief Communications Officer) in full-throated public relations mode, allegedly lobbying Board members in advance of the upcoming meeting.  According to the CCISUA petition to the Board he is gearing up to push through the Board revisions of the Fund’s new financial rules to advance his privatization agenda including “liberal outsourcing to banks and hedge funds.”

UN Staff Unions/CCISUA petition (please sign now!) to Pension Board and UN Secretary-General, 11 July 2016

"PROTECT OUR PENSION FUND: STOP ITS EXIT FROM THE UN AND OUTSOURCING TO WALL STREET

LINK TO FULL CCISUA STATEMENT (TEXT BELOW):

http://www.ccisua.org/2016/07/11/save-pension-fund/

PLEASE SIGN NOW (LINK TO PETITION BELOW)!

New proposal paves way for Exit of pension fund from UN and outsourcing of investment - Act Now to protect our fund!

• Proposed financial rules remove pension fund from the United Nations and allow liberal outsourcing to banks and hedge funds.

• This is backed by new human resources policy that reduces independence of staff who manage our money and exacerbates climate of fear inside Fund.

• No result yet from investigation into allegations of fraud by the CEO.

• Pension payment delays remain significant despite claims to the contrary.

• To protect our retirement income, unions call on Board members to block new financial rules, on Secretary-General to rescind human resources changes and for a change in the Fund’s leadership.

PETITION LINK: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_Board_of_the_UN_Pension_Fund_and_SecretaryGeneral_Ban_Kimoon_Save_our_pension_fund/?cRtCggb

CCISUA to the SG: Pay an ad hoc benefit to thousands of new UN retirees still awaiting pension payments; 2 July 2016

SOLUTION TO THE BACKLOG IN THE PENSION FUND
BROADCAST FROM THE STAFF UNION PRESIDENT

From: Barbara Tavora-Jainchill/NY/UNO@UNHQ
To:
Date: 30/06/2016 01:24 PM
Subject: Solution to the backlog in the Pension Fund: regular payment of an initial benefit immediately after separation - LETTER TO THE SG

Dear colleagues,
Please see below a letter sent by Egor Ovcharenko, our Union's Rapporteur and CCISUA's Vice-President (Conditions of Service) to the Secretary-General, regarding the Pension Fund backlog and the possibility of establishing regular initial payments when there is a delay in payment of benefits beyond 30 days after retirement.

USG for Management to UN staff unions head : OIOS backlog audit initiated, 2 July 2016

AFICS/NY to members (yet again): We regret to inform you, no meeting for you, 28 June 2016

Lowell Flanders: Post on Former and Current UN Staff Facebook page, 26 June 2016, 11.14 pm

The following is an exchange of correspondence with the President of AFICS regarding the request signed by 53 dues-paying members of AFICS to hold an extraordinary Assembly to discuss among other issues proposed changes to the AFICS By-Laws. It demonstrates clearly the contempt which the President and the Board of AFICS holds for the legitimate requests of its members. This high handed resort to faux legalisms is typical of authority structures that operate without regard to democratic procedures and transparency:

Pension Fund investment performance worsens. Are we paying attention yet? 24 June 2016

On 5 June 2016 we posted an article about the Fund’s failing investment performance, based on information publicly available on the Fund’s IMD (Investment Management Division) website. Results are now available for May and the Fund’s performance has lagged even further.

Performance worsens: You’ll recall from the last article that by the end of March 2016, the Fund was lagging its benchmark by 0.93 per cent. By the end of May, the Fund lagged the benchmark even more, by 1.2 per cent (benchmark 3.26 per cent, Fund 2.06 per cent).

A $624 million lost opportunity: In dollar terms, the Fund started the New Year, 1 January 2016, at approximately $52 billion and gained 2.06 per cent for the year, i.e, approximately $1.071 billion. If the Fund had just kept up with its own benchmark it would have gained 3.26 per cent, roughly $1.695 billion (a difference of $624 million).   

Pension Fund: questions about status of revised MOU, and CCISUA'S recommendations to the Secretary-General,

Leaked HR memo to the CEO: The first paragraph of the UN Staff Union President's broadcast (below) addresses the issue of the leaked UN HR memo to Fund CEO ostensibly dated May 2015 delegating full SG authority to the CEO over staff management in the Fund.These powers, for which the CEO has been lobbying hard, are contained in a revised Memorandum of Understanding that was the subject of two petitions to the Secretary-General in 2014 and 2015, signed by a total of 16,000 Fund participants and beneficiaries.

On 10 July 2015 the USG DM stated that he had placed the revised MOU on hold pending "further efforts and dialogue with concerned parties in order to ensure a clear understanding on the initiative before finalizing the revised MOU.pending consultations."

UN Staff Unions to Secretary-General: Replace the Pension Fund CEO, 13 June 2016

UNIONS URGE SECRETARY-GENERAL TO REPLACE THE CEO AS PAYMENT DELAYS CONTINUE

Staff unions urged the Secretary-General, in a letter published today, to replace the CEO of the pension fund in the face of a continued and severe backlog in payments to newly-retiring staff. The link to the letter is here: http://www.ccisua.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/LetterSGPensionFundDelays.pdf

The Secretary-General had set the CEO of the fund the target of reducing the backlog entirely during the period of 1 March and 31 May. Despite claims from the fund to have done so, the figures provided showed that only 36 percent of the backlog had been eliminated.

The botched implementation of a new IT system and refusal of the pension fund management to provide contingency plans, has led to newly-retiring staff having to wait between six and eight months to receive their pensions, putting many in hardship and this since summer 2015.

The letter also calls for an OIOS investigation into the backlog and the lack of transparency with regards to the data being provided by the fund.

Staff are invited to sign a related petition: https://www.change.org/p/ban-ki-moon-replace-un-pension-fund-ceo-sergio-arvizu-retirees-need-their-pensions-on-time

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Backlog in pension payments (the 61 per cent gap): OIOS must investigate the real extent and cause, 10 June 2016

 In an Intranet (iSeek) message dated Monday, 6 June 2016 (below), the Department of Management stated that the Fund has reported that 97 per cent of the backlog in pension payments to new retirees and survivors has been cleared as of 31 May 2016 and the remaining 3 per cent will be completed in June.

In an iSeek response dated Wednesday, 8 June 2016 (also below) the CCISUA President estimates that by adding new cases from the last three months as staff leave or retire, the Fund has cleared only 36 per cent of the backlog, not 97 per cent as reported (a 61 per cent gap)  and calls for an OIOS audit.

FAFICS officials try to block OIOS investigation into delayed pension payments, 9 June 2016

POSTED TODAY ON THE UN STAFF UNIONS FACEBOOK PAGE

"WHAT PLANET ARE THEY ON?

A leaked email shows Linda Saputelli and Warren Sach of the federation of UN retiree associations (FAFICS) trying to block an OIOS investigation into 6-month payment delays at the pension fund (http://unpension.blogspot.ch/…/the-curious-case-of-ceo-and-…).

Perhaps the retiree associations are not aware of the hardship UN retirees have been going through? Perhaps they are unable separate the interests of their members from those of the fund's CEO?

Whichever it is, UN staff unions, speaking from planet reality, strongly urge OIOS to proceed with its investigation."

https://www.facebook.com/unstaffunions/

The curious case of the Pension Fund CEO and AFICS/NY, 8 June 2016

There’s a curious nexus of actions between the Pension Fund CEO, and the AFICS/NY leadership that leaves us more concerned than ever about how the Fund is being managed and how this may impact on the soundness of the Fund’s operations.

We learned recently that the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) initiated an audit regarding the Fund’s substantial backlog and processing delays in payments to new retirees and survivors, and reportedly requested to meet with the AFICS/NY leadership in this regard.

Pension Fund: Failing investment performance: How safe are our life savings? 5 June 2016

There are very worrying signs that investment performance is way down at our Pension Fund. A quick comparison of the 2015 and 2016 performance reports tells an unsettling story.

But first, recall last year’s leaks to the media about the Fund moving in the direction of hedge funds and riskier investments. Recall too that AFICS/NY consistently dismissed concerns, and Chef de Cabinet Susana Malcorra provided assurances at the 16 April 2015 town hall meeting that there was nothing to worry about, all of this taking place amid increasing media reports of other major funds moving away from hedge funds because of concerns about low performance and high fees.

Breaching the divide: Revised MOU on hold, but the CEO gets his 'flexibilities', 26 May 2016

So, the revised Memorandum of Understanding between the UN Pension Fund and the Office of Human Resources Management is still safely on hold, we thought, where it was placed by USG DM Takasu on 10 July 2015. You will recall his iSeek message stating that “ we believe more work is needed in sensitizing staff and retirees alike to the purpose of the proposed MOU and to disavow any remaining misconceptions. In this regard, we have consulted with the UNJSPF management and have agreed that it is important to make further efforts and dialogue with concerned parties in order to ensure a clear understanding on the initiative before finalizing the revised MOU.”

However, we have information today that at the time of Mr. Takasu’s message, the staff management ‘flexibilities’ pushed for by the Fund CEO had already been in force for almost two months. The UN Staff Union President circulated a broadcast today to UN staff, of which we received a copy, about the ‘strong powers’ given to the Fund CEO by UN Human Resources in a memo dated 17 May 2015 to the Fund CEO, attached to her broadcast. (See the 17 May memo below).