ILO Administrative Tribunal rules to reverse Geneva paycut!

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Administrative Court has ruled that the 5-7.0% paycut that has been imposed on the UN staff in Geneva last year about this time was ILLEGAL! It further ruled that the UN should retroactively reimburse staff members for their monies lost with 5% interest!

The decision applies however only to specialized agencies and not to the UN Secretariat, OHCHR, and some other UN agencies in Geneva. For those, there is a parallel case going on at the UN Dispute Tribunal that has not yet "ruled" on the legality of the International Compensation Commission decision to downgrade Geneva-based salary scale for UN staffers. However, it will now be more difficult for the latter to rule otherwise lest it wants to be accused of playing politics!

This is welcome news, especially since the ILO Administrative Court's decision apparently has no right of appeal. In the case of the UN Dispute Tribunal, there is an "appeals" court that has historically been overturning the lower court's decisions in favor of Secretary-General. It is a little known fact that in the end, the Secretary-General is not "obliged" to honor the tribunal's decision and can chose to do nothing?! We are therefore far from having this issue settled, but at least are moving in the right direction.