No pension, no health insurance and now ... NO SALARY ?!

A few days ago, our colleagues on “temporary” contracts—no pension, no health insurance, 3 month break contracts—received the following email from the organization:

“Dear colleague,

I am so sorry to inform you that this month’s salary would be delayed, due to the late budget allotment.

The budget transfer has been sent to NY and the salary should be disbursed around middle of February. I will keep on checking … .

Apology for the bad news, any inconvenience caused is much regretted.

Also, many thanks for your kind understanding and sincere regards … “

To this email, one of our colleagues on a “temporary” contract replied as follows.

“Dear ….,

I believe I speak for everyone when I say this:

This is unacceptable, simply stated. I know every one of us works extraordinarily hard to deliver the highest quality of service.

There are those of us who live from paycheck to paycheck. There are those of us with families to support, with no other income than the paychecks we receive as contractors for the United Nations. Geneva is an expensive place to live. Rent is high and food is expensive. Bills are coming due for many of us and we may have to face the prospect of either paying our rent on time, or putting food on the table, between paying for medication or for an infant formula. Are we to scrape together just enough coins to be able to buy flour so that we can make bread so that we can eat while collecting sticks and logs from the ground to burn to keep warm?

What I'm saying may sound hyperbolic, but if nothing is said now, when will it be said? If we allow late payments without recourse now, will we accept non-payments in the future? Where does this end?

The Staff Alliance holds that it is unacceptable that payment of salaries is delayed in Geneva to UN staff on temporary contracts. And this at a time when UNOG is undertaking a full-speed, massive US$ one billion Strategic Heritage Plan building and renovation project?! Certainly, if the UN has money to renovate, it should have money to pay its staff!

In the meantime, affected staff have been advised to read the book: "HOW to survive WITHOUT a Salary" by Charles Long (1996).