JOINT WRITTEN STATEMENT BY THE
FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS’ ASSOCIATIONS (FICSA), THE
COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF UNIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS (CCISUA)
AND UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS' FEDERATION (UNISERV) TO THE
64RD SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS JOINT STAFF PENSION BOARD (UNJSPB)
Submitted on Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Mr Chairman,
Distinguished members of the Board, Observers, Pension Fund staff, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Our two staff
Federations thank you for this opportunity to convey to you some of the views
and concerns of our constituents: the staff members of the United Nations
common system. An exchange such as this enables the Board to hear first-hand
how staff view things: views, we trust, that will be heeded in the final
decisions on important matters being considered at this session.
First, we wish to
congratulate you, Madam, on your election to chair this session of the Board.
We shall all benefit from your guidance. Secondly, we wish to place on record our
deepest appreciation and genuine gratitude to the Pension Fund staff. We
respect their efforts and commitment throughout the period under review.
Of the many issues
before us, we wish to align ourselves with those Board members, for whom
resolving the problems surrounding the late payment of benefits and withdrawal
settlements to new retirees is a matter of pre-eminent importance. Although the
backlog may have decreased, things are still not running at the normal level of
operations.
The staff federations
firmly believe that the Board needs to reconsider ways and means of rectifying
promptly this unacceptable hardship on new retirees. We should build on the
firm steps that the Board took towards restoring the Fund’s credibility at its
previous session. If the Board succeeds in bringing about the swift processing
of the backlog in initial pension payments to new retirees, it will have
accomplished much more than any communications strategy. Furthermore, the Board
will have complied with the instruction in General Assembly resolution 70/248 -
and I quote - "to take appropriate steps to ensure the fund addresses the
causes of such delays". A plea that was repeated in resolution 71/265 on
the United Nations pension system.
We share that sense
of urgency. We would like to see a more proactive Fund and have it introduce
the concept of provisional payments, as practised by many governments and
certain international organizations. In such instances, the first pension is
paid out as a provisional payment shortly before the staff member retires, thus
helping the retiree to bear significant costs in the first month of retirement.
Resolution 71/265
also expressed serious concern over the investments of the Fund: a concern that
we also share. The improvement in investment performance in the first six
months of the current year compared to that of the past three years has hardly
allayed our fears.
Talking of
performance, the staff federations see a direct correlation between the
performance of the Fund’s senior management and the state of the
staff-management relations in the secretariat. It is important to recall that,
at the previous session of the Board, the staff federations spoke of their
serious concern in that regard. They stressed the need for enhanced transparency,
improved communications and consultations - not only with the Fund’s staff, but
also with the Staff Pension Committees and participants at large.
On numerous
occasions, the Fund’s staff representatives have expressed disagreement with
the Fund’s lack of respect for the United Nations Staff Regulations and Rules.
As stated in Article 7 of the Fund’s Regulations and Rules, the Fund’s staff
members are appointed by the UN Secretary General. They thus hold UN
Secretariat contracts governed by the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United
Nations.
The very failure to
consult staff on matters relating to the structural reorganization of their
units, compounded by a failure to consult with the staff representative body,
has contributed to extremely low staff morale. Last year, there has not been a
single meeting between management and staff representatives despite requests
from staff representatives.
Taking all the
foregoing and ongoing difficulties into account, we trust the Board will
exercise its oversight function accordingly. We also note with concern the
proposal that the mandate of the Secretary/CEO of the Fund be extended for a
second five-year term. Our counterproposal is that the Board establish a search
committee that should, inter alia, take our concerns into consideration. A
proper election process should ensue in the period leading up to the next
session of the Board.
We have also followed
with dismay recent events surrounding colleagues from the United Nations and
UNESCO who, although elected to the Pension Board, have been denied their claim
to attend the 64th session Pension Board session and thus have not been
permitted to represent their constituents. This is an extremely worrying and
regrettable development that we intend to address in other fora.
We also note with a
growing sense of disquiet the refusal of credentials for colleagues who were to
attend as observers on behalf of CCISUA and UNISERV - on the most tenuous of grounds:
conflict of interest. To our mind, an issue such as that should be raised with
the General Assembly. In our view, it constitutes a clear violation of the
basic rights of freedom of association and freedom of speech.
Mr Chairman,
Distinguished members of the Board and Observers,
Today our Pension
Fund is going through a difficult period. However, we should not forget that
the United Nations system has risen to many a challenge in the past and
mastered greater difficulties. We have full trust in the United Nations system,
in the collective wisdom of the Board and in that of the UN General Assembly
and its subsidiary bodies. We are convinced that this wisdom will prevail once
again and dispel the current crisis. Ultimately, it will restore the sound
operation of the Fund, together with its credibility and reputation.
Both current and
future beneficiaries await the outcome of this session of the Board with
heightened expectations and greater hopes. On their behalf, the staff
federations also trust that your actions will address and resolve their urgent
concerns.
Thank you for your
attention.
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