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From
the Staff Committee 2015-2016 |
202-370-4645 |
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August 24, 2015 |
SN-6/15-16 Original: English |
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Meeting of the Staff Committee with
the Secretary General The members of the Staff Committee met
with Secretary General Luis Almagro in his office, on Wednesday, August 12,
2015 at 11:30 a.m. In representation of the Committee were
Luiz Marcelo Azevedo, President of the Staff Committee and the following
members: Michael Thomas, Steven Griner, Paulina Corominas, Teresa Bustamante,
Catherine Pognat, Carla Sorani and Juan Cruz Monticelli. Representing
the Administration, in addition to the Secretary General, were Assistant
Secretary General, Ambassador Nestor Méndez, Ambassador Jacinth Henry-Martin,
Chief of Staff of the Secretary General, and the special advisors of the
Secretary General, Ambassador Gabriel Bidegain, Diego Canepa and Luis
Porto. Following acknowledgements and
introductions, the Chair of the Committee addressed the following priority
issues for the Staff Committee: Greater participation of women in
high-level posts and horizontal movements of the staff The Chair of the Staff Committee stressed
the need to have more women in high-level posts in the General Secretariat
and the necessity for a more inclusive human resources policy, that seek the
promotion of “More rights for more people” within the OAS as well. In that
sense, he congratulated the Secretary General for his express recognition of
the equality of all LGBTI staff and the need to advance towards the guarantee
of rights for other traditionally excluded groups, mainly persons with
disabilities. He also insisted on the importance for staff members to have
the opportunity to transfer to other areas of the General Secretariat in
order to make the best use of their expertise and knowledge. Additionally, and taking into
consideration that in the Town Hall meeting which had taken place prior to
the meeting, Mr. Porto had conveyed that a diagnostic would be carried out on
the current situation of work teams and the skills and knowledge of the staff
of the General Secretariat, the Committee expressed its interest in having a
copy of the diagnostic and its contents. Restructuring The President of the Committee mentioned
that the staff representatives had not had the opportunity to review and
discuss the proposal for the restructuring of the General Secretariat,
despite a prior commitment to that end. Furthermore, he deemed that it would
have been fitting to have been able to discuss the matter with the Secretary
General prior to the Town Hall Meeting. In addition, he presented the
Secretary General with a copy of the ILO Joint Negotiating Committee’s
Guidelines on Managing Change and Restructuring Processes
and underscored the importance of providing greater information to the staff
on the restructuring. The Secretary General affirmed that the
strategy was still being elaborated and that it should be enhanced by
different opinions. He suggested that the President of the Committee
converse with the Chair of the Permanent Council since the proposal for
structural reform was under discussion in said Council. The Secretary
General further informed that he wished to change the work logic of the
Secretariat and would do so with the structure emanating from the Member
States’ discussion. Ombudsperson With regards to the appointment of the
Ombudsperson, the President of the Committee voiced the interest of the
Committee to ensure that this entity work in the best possible manner,
considering that the staff wished to have a place to turn to in case of labor
conflicts. As such, the Committee requested that the Ombudsperson office be
assigned the necessary human resources for support. The President also
stressed the importance for the post to be neutral and independent and for
the Staff Committee to participate in the definition of the terms of
reference for the post. 2016-2017 Program-Budget Concerning the Program-Budget, the
President of the Committee referred to the current opportunity for Member
States to increase their quotas and indicated that the Committee would be
willing to support this effort, with the authorization of the Secretary General.
The Secretary General acknowledged the difficulties in the process of
elaborating the budget and reiterated his wish for the impact on the staff to
be as minimal as possible. At the suggestion of the Committee, the
program-budget will be revised to include resources for the audit of posts
and for the training of staff members. Competitions The members of the Staff Committee
conveyed to the Secretary General that the suspension of pending competitions
had generated great unease among staff who had been waiting for years for
their competitions and who could not have access to the benefits afforded to
better contracts. They also informed the Secretary General that there
was a general perception among the staff that preferences were granted to
staff working in some departments and Secretariats, while others had had to
wait many years for their competitions or reclassifications. The Committee restated that Article 20 (e)
of the General Standards specifies that persons on short terms contracts
(Series A) as of October 29, 2014, financed by the Regular Fund, who have not
been hired by competition shall not have their contracts renewed for periods
extending beyond December 31, 2015, unless they are selected by competitions
in accordance with Article 44 of the said Standards. The Secretary General
assured that no one would lose their post due to the suspension of
competitions. The President of the Committee stated
that, should a decision be made to request the Member States for an extension
in accordance with aforementioned article and deadline, this extension should
have a calendar clearly establishing the deadlines for the competitions. This
would avoid future requests for extension that might further delay these
statutory competitions. Furthermore, the order of the list of
competitions that the Staff Committee is reviewing along the Department of
Human Resources, and which should be published as soon as possible, must be
respected. Staff Training The Secretary General concurred with
giving priority to overall training for the staff, as well as providing
specific training on two priority issues identified by the Staff Committee:
Ethics and Work and Sexual Harassment. He also agreed on the importance
to name the members of the Ethics Committee and to have the President of the
Staff Committee participate in this Committee. Proposal of Changes to the norms on
Work and Sexual Harassment The members of the Committee reiterated to
the Secretary General the need for the Working Group on the Revision of Norms
on Work and Sexual Harassment to consider the proposal made by the Staff
Committee on that regard, which stemmed from the work of a group of IACHR
staff with the support of CIM. The Secretary General instructed his Chief of
Staff to request an explanation from the Department of Human Resources on the
status of the proposal for the modification of the norms and the reasons why the
Staff Association proposal had not been included. In closing, the Secretary General stressed
that everything needed to be equal for everyone; he added that he would work
on a plan of action by country, similar to that of other organizations such
as the Inter-American Development Bank, and on eliminating the practice of
personal projects which do not respond to the priorities of the Organization.
Mr. Porto added that any Project would have to go through the Evaluation
Committee, as had been the case to date, and would also have to include the
recommendations made by other areas that work on the theme of the Project, to
ensure that work is not duplicated and is done in a congruent manner. The Staff Committee thanked the Secretary
General for his time and for the opportunity to listen to their observations
and concerns. At the end of the meeting, the Secretary General the Staff
Committee also reiterated their commitment to an open and respectful dialogue
for the benefit of the Organization and its staff. |
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