INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE STAFF ASSOCIATION
RENE L. GUTIERREZ
2003-2004
(Delivered on July 23, 2003)

My dear colleagues:

In my capacity as President of the 2003-2004 Staff Committee, I would like to thank you for electing me and to assure you that the Committee will continue to defend and protect the rights of all members of the General Secretariat staff, especially with regard to their working conditions. Our work will continue to be governed by our statutes and rules of procedure and by General Assembly resolutions.

I would also like to express appreciation for the congratulations I received in letters and e-mails from colleagues in the offices of the General Secretariat in the member states, as well as from the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General, and the Assistant Secretary for Management, who expressed regret at not being present here today. Allow me to share with you part of the Secretary General’s letter:

“I recognize that the Association’s achievements go well beyond the tried and true topics of salary and benefits. Equally important are its efforts regarding scholarship funds for the children of staff members and its promotion of sports and the arts.”

This term will be undoubtedly fraught with difficult moments. And for that reason I am asking you to stand united because IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH.

Because of continuing service, the Committee will be dealing with certain pending activities or tasks involving issues requiring further study and analysis. I would like to mention a few activities of great importance that we hope to conclude for the benefit of the General Secretariat.

First of all, there is the evaluation system, which is not being used as a tool for enhanced productivity but, on the contrary, as a means of punishing and downgrading the staff. Based on the results of our staff survey, we have prepared a questionnaire geared specifically toward gathering information on problems associated with utilizing the evaluation system. We would therefore request your active participation in this new survey. The data collected will be carefully analyzed and the results will be presented to the Secretary General, together with necessary recommendations.

As a second activity this term, the Staff Association will draw up a policy document on the prevention and punishment of harassment in the workplace. This type of conduct, which is different from sexual harassment, has already been recognized and defined in the respective regulations of the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Pan American Health Organization, and the International Labour Organization, which have established mechanisms for preventing and punishing it.

The Staff Association considers it of great urgency to address this issue openly within the General Secretariat. Accordingly, it has established a subcommittee on harassment in the workplace, which will prepare a draft policy document to be submitted to the Secretary General for consideration.

A third matter worthy of mention has to do with the continuing contracts, the applicants for which are still waiting to be informed of the results. I think that we have learned a lesson with regard to the language requirement, both at headquarters and in the offices of the General Secretariat in the member states. Consequently, I intend to propose that beginning this year the General Secretariat do its utmost to follow the system used by the United Nations, as is done by the Pan American Health Organization, whereby language evaluation results are inserted into the staff member’s personnel file. Thus, if a continuing contract competition is opened this year or next, the language requirement has already been addressed.

The campaign to update Staff Association contributions will continue in a more dynamic and proficient manner. To this end, we shall make additional services available to our contributing members either by extending the COSTCO membership program, which was well received by the staff, or by contacting metropolitan area businesses to obtain reductions on services, for example, automobile insurance, life insurance, etc.

A gift shop could help the Association to create new sources of financing for its numerous activities. I have talked with the Assistant Secretary for Management and an agreement is being prepared on use of the OAS logo on the products we will be selling. The Washington area is an ideal location for this type of gift shop. For example, the Main Building is visited by thousands of tourists each year. We think that we can take advantage of their presence here by selling them souvenirs from the House of the Americas. Now that we have an Association logo, we can begin to produce items for office use for distribution to the staff.

Once again my thanks to all of you for the trust you have placed in us. And to my colleagues from the century-old Columbus Memorial Library, a special thank you for your support and understanding.