TOP ISSUES
Staff Alliance focuses on local issues impacting directly UN staff in Geneva. While we care about wider systemic issues, we feel that we need to address local challenges first. These are some of our top priorities:
Promotion
Our current "vacancy management system" is broken. For a small number of vacancies, there is a much greater number of qualified and deserving applicants who are NOT going to be selected. This breads frustration and despondency. We want to move to a "seniority-based" promotion system in which "no one is left behind" while keeping the merit-based route to promotions in place. We also want to remove restrictions on filling vacancies so that all staff, irrespective of their grade or status can apply.
Strategic Heritage Plan
The construction of the new building is underway, but staff are still not effectively participating in decision-making affecting this project. Geneva staff are entitled to safe, comfortable and effective working conditions and we should get nothing LESS from this project! All staff groups (currently there are three), should be represented as equal partners in all SHP decision-making bodies concerned, and we should get our voices heard!
Staff Money
Coordinating Council currently has over CHF 2 million in the bank, but the staff group currently in power does not want to spend any?! Staff Alliance proposes to give staff what is rightfully theirs by supporting staff welfare through different programs, e.g., subsidies for TPG annual bus passes, child care, complimentary food and drink during Council organized events, and by providing financial support to clubs and other staff activities.
Salaries and benefits
Professional staff salaries and dependency allowances were reduced, and those of G staff will soon follow. Education grant entitlement was reduced with boarding and transportation expenses no longer covered, travel standards were downgraded, home leave lump-sum entitlement was reduced, step increments were slowed and purchasing power in Geneva has been lost! We should not accept all these loses without at least trying to fight back. G, S, L, D and P staff are ultimately in the same boat and have a shared responsibility in fighting for their rights.
Contract Security
Permanent Contracts were recently abolished and fixed term staff suffer from varying degrees of uncertainty. Working for the UN should not be a source of anxiety! Management wants to relocate repetitive transactions-based functions to cheaper duty stations. Jobs like IT, payroll, HR and many others could leave Geneva. Staff Alliance believes that we should strive for "quality", not "quantity" and that Geneva should be developed as a high value-added "hub" servicing other UN duty stations in areas such as organizational change, HR and IT, especially since we are also "francophone".
Justice
Whether it is missed promotion, unfair PAS evaluation, harassment, or the basic human right to build a positive future for oneself; justice, fairness and compassion are Staff Alliance values. We want to make you grow and succeed as employees and as human beings. Our commitment is always to YOU and the "buck stops" with US. We will accept the accountability if you will give us an opportunity to succeed and serve you!