UN Staff Union Security Units

On the upcoming Pension Board elections please consider voting for our colleague Katy to represent our interests at that level.

WANT TO KNOW WHY OUR PENSION FUND IS IN CRISIS? READ THESE QUESTIONS!

They were sent yesterday by UN Pension Blog (unpension.blogspot.com) author, Loraine Rickard-Martin to the fund's communication officer, Lee Woodyear.

They are to the point. We look forward to Mr. Woodyear's reponse.

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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"?

2. Has the Fund ever reported the numbers of these non-actionable cases in its figures on the extent and status of the backlog? If not, why not?

3. The Fund has reported 90 per cent of the backlog eliminated by 31 May 2016. CCISUA says that published figures indicate that only 50 per cent of the backlog has been eliminated. Do non-actionable cases account for this discrepancy?

4. Why does the Fund reportedly maintain a high vacancy rate of posts, some for as long as four years, including posts “crucial for payment of benefits and client services” (see comment on your newsletter post on FCUNS) while pushing for reclassification and additional senior posts?

5. The Fund reportedly receives $10 million every two years from the General Assembly to be used by the Fund to ensure that participant organizations provide required documentation to the Fund. The Board of Auditors report (para. 11) states that there are 3000 cases of missing documentation. Why is this task not being adequately performed by the Fund?

6. Who initiated an OIOS audit of the backlog in pension payments and why was this necessary if the Fund has been providing (as it contends) full and accurate information on the extent and status of the backlog?

7. Was Arvizu aware, or did he initiate, the (leaked) email that AFICS/NY wrote to OIOS on 1 June 2016 listing reasons why, in its view, the audit should not be done, and did this email delay the conduct of the audit in any way?

8. Has OIOS acceded to AFICS/NY inappropriate request contained in the leaked email: “When it [the report] is ready we would appreciate being apprised as it may bring to mind further comment”?

9. Is the draft OIOS audit report on the backlog in payments currently with the Fund for comment? When may it be expected to be finalized and published?

10. What image does the Fund convey when long-suffering retirees are able to get their cases attended to by posting on FCUNS Facebook (your exchanges yesterday) while experiencing delays through communicating with the Fund?

Staff management flexibilities, low morale, and reported retaliation

11. Para. 360 of the Pension Board report states:. “The CEO noted that OHRM had granted certain HR flexibilities to the Fund which would hopefully help the Fund to speed up recruitment.” What is the actual date of the memorandum from OHRM to the CEO (leaked copy states 17 May 2015) granting him HR flexibilities?

12. If the actual date of the memorandum was 17 May 2015, did OHRM provide HR flexibilities to the CEO six weeks before the revised MOU (containing those flexibilities) was placed on hold by the USG DM, on 1 July 2015?

13. Since staff in any organization are not inherently opposed to staff management flexibilities what accounts for the opposition of some Fund staff to HR flexibilities and their reported low morale?

14. As you note, these HR flexibilities “bypass some Secretariat rules” including, no doubt, rules that protect staff rights. Why would Fund staff who say that the CEO practices favoritism and retaliation not resist being moved out from under the protection of the UN staff rules and regulations?

15. Why did Arvizu select (leaked email dated 3 June 2016 broadcast to UNJSPF staff) an OIOS staff member who (according to the email) “has been associated with UNJSFP since 2007” for a senior (D1) Fund in the Fund? Has he no concern for perception of conflict of interest? Reportedly action on this selection was suspended. What is the current status of this case?

16. Why is Arvizu reportedly attempting to terminate the permanent contract of a Fund Secretariat staff representative, ostensibly because the project on which she is working has terminated, while there are vacant posts in the UNJSPF for which she is qualified?

Financial rules and regulations

17. Para. 245) “The [Financial] Rules provide, specifically, that for procurement activities and other administrative services, the Fund continues to use the United Nations "machinery" under United Nations Financial Regulations and Rules.” For what activities does the Fund not use the UN financial ‘machinery’?
Mr. Arvizu’s performance and renewal of his contract

18. Why did some members of the Pension Board push for Arvizu’s contract to be renewed a year in advance (it ends on 31 December 2017) if not to circumvent the participation of new participant representatives (elections are due) on the Board in the decision at the 2017 Board meeting?

19. The UN staff union federations point out that Arvizu has failed in his primary mission as CEO: to pay pensions on time. As CEO of the Fund Secretariat, why did he receive a positive evaluation from the Pension Board? Isn’t he ultimately accountable for this management failure?

OIOS investigations of the Fund

20. Paragraph 348 of the Pension Board report states that OIOS has “not issued any report on the results of its investigations” into alleged fraud by Arvizu. Yet you continue to state that a report exists. Several months ago you said publicly on FCUNS (Facebook) that links to the report exist on the OIOS website. Are you able to produce the report?

21. Why was no disciplinary action taken as recommended by OIOS in its investigation of conflict of interest, favoritism and mismanagement in the Fund (ID Case No. 0543/05 , dated 28 March 2006) involving senior Fund staff? Is there truth to reports that Arvizu was Deputy CEO at the time and reportedly ensured that no disciplinary action was taken against one of those senior staff (currently the Deputy CEO)?

22. OIOS Assignment No. AS2007/800/06, 4 June 2008 found several weaknesses in the Fund’s procurement process including recurrent use of direct procurement outside of established provisions and consultancy services used to discharge core functions. What has the Fund done to address these deficiencies?

23. What assurances exist that the findings of the current OIOS audit report will not be watered down before it is finalized, or suppressed once it is finalized?

24. Since you raised the issue of an email, dated 3 September 2016, published by Inner City Press, and titled “A new scandal in our Pension Fund” and containing allegations of abuse of benefits by a a senior Fund staff member , has there been an investigation into these allegations, and if so, what were the findings?

Pension Board

25. How much did Arvizu spend on consultant reports (including Price Waterhouse Coopers) for presentation to the 2016 Pension Board meeting?

26. Why are Fund stakeholders (participant and beneficiaries) not allowed access to documents provided to the Board members for consideration?

27. Why were Board members including participant representatives reportedly made to sign confidentiality agreements that prohibit them from sharing information with stakeholders, including participants and beneficiaries?

28. Why were staff federation representatives, who hold observer status and are normally allowed to make a statement attached to the Pension Board report, "muzzled" at the 2016 Pension Board meeting?

29. Why are massive amounts of documentation reportedly sent by the Fund to Board participants only a week in advance of the Board meeting in the expectation that they will be digested and ready to make policy decisions at the Board meeting a few days later?

Fund priorities

30. How does one justify the funds and human resources spent on your salary (Senior Communications Officer, P5), on Member Self-Service, on i-Seek notices, newsletters, town hall meetings, outreach material, new logo, info-graphisc, “white board videos”, a You Tube page, and even a new UNJSPF website, as noted in your statement, when new retirees and survivors continue to experience serious hardship while waiting in some cases up to a year for their payments?

General

31. A similar number of serious questions could be asked about the investment side of the Fund. However, you’ve stated that you’re the spokesperson for the CEO only, not the RSG, head of the Investment Management Division. Why did you state publicly that the Fund has no investments in arms and to***co, when it fact it does, as documented in the Pension Board report (paras. 111 and 137)? In fact, why did you speak on behalf of the IMD for which you are not spokesperson?

I fully appreciate that some of these issues precede your brief (four month) tenure with the Fund. You will surely derive great benefit and enrichment from delving into aspects of the Fund's historical background with which you are clearly unacquainted, and perhaps even a greater understanding and appreciation of some of our varied perspectives, especially those of our hardworking staff union federation representatives.

I look forward to your shedding light on the issues raised above, which are by no means exhaustive.

Loraine Rickard-Martin
Beneficiary/UNJSPF

How about that.... ours went down 6% since 2005. Do you see the picture?

http://flip.it/_-35Pj

U.S. Wages Rising At The Fastest Pace In Years Amid Solid Hiring Go ahead — ask the boss for a raise.The jobs report released Friday by the Labor Department suggests the time finally may be right to demand a fatter paycheck.The October report showed employers added 161,000 jobs — and paid workers more. Average hourly earnings rose by 10 cents to $25.92 last month

Department of Safety and Security: Making every UN activity a secure possibility.

The Department of Safety and Security is a vital part of the UN, be it during the High Level General Assembly meetings, when world leaders and government officials are at UNHQ, or on the day-to-day basis, when international employees, delegates and guests need to stay safe in their work and visits to the complex.

“The mission of the United Nations Security and Safety Services, Division of Headquarters Security and Safety Services, Department of Safety and Security, is to provide a safe and secure environment through which the staff, delegates and visiting dignitaries can conduct the business of the United Nations.”

Inspector Matthew Sullivan, Captain Malinda McCormack and Lieutenant Derek Levy are among the Supervisors in Operations and Security Events Planning Unit.

These teams ensure the smooth operation of events ranging from 10 to 10,000 guests in a single day. They have worked to make sure school children, Messengers of Peace, and Heads of State can visit the UN and engage in the work of the organization.

Pictured here, in front of the UN Secretariat Building, the Supervisors are promoting Goal 15 (Life on Land), Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Thank you for keeping us safe, while promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)!

Fifth Committee, 8th meeting - 71st General Assembly Administrative and Budgetary Committee, (Fifth committee), 8th meeting United Nations common system (A/71/30, A/C.5/71/3 and A/71/564) [item 141] Introduction and general discussion

With the Security Council's nomination this week, is worth recalling what Guterres told staff magazine, unspecial.org, when interviewed back in August:

Q: As Secretary-General you may face pressure to restructure the UN Secretariat. Would you see the staff unions of the UN as negotiating partners in such an exercise? Can you provide examples from your career in which you have worked constructively with staff unions to carry out management reforms?

A: The future of the UN will be determined by its readiness to change and adapt, in full respect, to the provisions of the Charter and the competences of the main bodies. Reform is not a one time action; it is a permanent attitude to make the UN less bureaucratic and more efficient, productive, and field oriented. Consultation with staff representatives is essential in this context. In my time as high commissioner, I’ve always endeavored to maintain dialogue with the Staff Council and my door was always open to staff representatives. We’ve not always managed to reach an agreement, but our dialogue was always influential in my decisions.

Q: Writing in the New York Times, a former Assistant Secretary General of field support described the UN’s personnel system as «sclerotic». What would you do to improve it?

A: We have indeed a complex, somewhat cumbersome, set of norms which makes personnel management in the UN not an easy task. We must aim at a more decentralized, simplified and faster process. But we cannot do it without the involvement of the staff, in full transparency and with clear criteria, in a way that the UN staff can feel motivated.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

A: In my ten years as High Commissioner, I have gained a lot of admiration for the role played by the staff representatives. The Organization is what the staff is and I am very proud to have been a colleague to a wonderful group of people, courageous, generous and determined to serve the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.

AFT and United Nations Staff Union Urge New UN Secretary-General To Support Workers and Their Labor Rights WASHINGTON—In a letter sent to Antonio Guterres of Portugal, who was elected today as secretary-general of the United Nations, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten noted his humanitarian work as the U.N. high commissioner for refugees and his support for Portuguese workers and…

Autocratic Un Agency Head Broke Rules With Sensitive Cybersecurity Contract Award, Report Shows “The head of a low profile but important United Nations agency based in Geneva bent the organization’s rules and steered an ultrasensitive cybersecurity contract to a company headed by a business acquaintance, according to a heavily redacted UN report obtained by Fox News.

Can you feel it in the air? The GA debate is just around the corner, the largest show on this planet will start in 6 business days! Behind the scene preparations were ongoing for months and now we are ready, as always, to provide the safest environment for the most important political actors present on our UN premises.
Check the short video below with UN Security in GA action :) 

UN Security during the General Debate of the General Assembly United Nations Security Officers working various posts during the General Debate.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=178423219249810&id=100012463997645

The United Nations: What’s the Point? It’s not clear the organization can effectively confront—or even survive—today’s challenges.

https://www.facebook.com/globalgoalsUN/photos/a.10150119611211026.290930.260097656025/10154046656056026/?type=3

We can't let pass without a shoutout to all of the United Nations security dogs, safeguarding people all over the world. Hope you all get some treats tonight.

More info about dogs' role at the UN here: http://bit.ly/2bNitfT