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REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES
OF THE 2003-2004 STAFF COMMITTEE
JULY 2003
This document contains a summary of the
activities of the 2003-2004 Staff Committee during July and a few items of
interest to the staff.
Elections
Elections were held for the Vice-Chair,
Secretary, and Treasurer, pursuant to the Statutes of the Staff
Association. The Chair noted that an Assistant Chair and an Assistant
Treasurer would have to be appointed. The Staff Committee elected Miguel
Angel Merino as Vice-Chair, Gladys Berly as Secretary, Ana María Lemos as
Assistant Secretary, Nubia González as Treasurer, and Lucrecia Zea-Yonker
as Assistant Treasurer.
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board was then confirmed,
also pursuant to the Statutes of the Staff Association. It consisted of:
Martha Braga, Linda J. Poole, Anna Chisman, Juan Luis Colaiácovo, and René
L. Gutiérrez.
Letters of congratulation
The Chair circulated letters
congratulating the new committee, sent by the Secretary General, the
Assistant Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary for Management, and
the Director of the Office of the General Secretariat in Peru.
Election of staff representatives to
joint committees:
a. Joint Committee on Insurance Matters
[EB1] (July 2003 – June 2005)
Mabel Mestre – Principal
Pamela Mumuni – Principal
Gala Redington – Alternate
Daniel Perna – Alternate
b. Joint Advisory Committee on
Reconsideration [EB2] (July 2003 – July 2004)
Linda J. Poole – Principal
Clara Estrada – First Alternate
Stephen Bender – Second Alternate
Pamela Mumuni – Ad Hoc Member
Jane Mohan – Ad Hoc Member
c. Performance Evaluation Review
Committee[EB3]
Marcela Haugaard
d. Staff Incentive Awards
Committee[EB4]
René L. Gutiérrez
e. Joint Committee on Selection of the
Leo S. Rowe Award[EB5]
Francisco Coves (May 2002-April 2004)
James Kiernan (May 2003-April 2005)
f. Medical Benefits Trust Fund[EB6]
Juan Luis Colaiácovo – Principal Delegate
Silvia Gutiérrez – Alternate Delegate
g. Joint Advisory Committee on Employee
Parking
Javier Arnaiz – Principal
Rafael Franzini-Batlle – Alternate
Raúl Plata – Alternate
Marleng Molina – Alternate
h. Joint Disciplinary Committee
Ana Marie Blackman – Principal
Magaly McLean – Alternate
Jean Craigwell – Alternate
Appointment of staff representatives to
Staff Association support subcommittees
a. Children’s Christmas Party
Subcommittee
Oneida Adames-Ripley - Coordinator
Diana Rittinger
Aida M. Rothe
b. Art Group
Gladys Berly
José Bustillos
Mabel Mestre
Lionel Nájera
c. Subcommittee on Sports
Fernando López
Roberto Kirchheim
Enrique Vidal
d. Subcommittee on Funds for Natural
Disasters[EB7]
Stephen Bender
Sandra Burns
Pablo González
Charlene Solózano
e. Subcommittee on Public Relations
Javier Arnaiz
Sandra Burns
Miguel A. Merino
Raúl Plata
Nubia Thornton
f. Subcommittee on Rules and Procedures
Rafael Franzini-Batlle
Manuel Metz
Arturo Garzón
Linda J. Poole
g. Subcommittee on Harassment in the
Workplace[EB8]
Carlos Humud
Lina Sevillano
Cristina Cerna
Gala Redington
Gabriel Gross
Mabel Mestre
h. Budget Subcommittee
Gladys Berly
Nubia González
Miguel A. Merino
Lucrecia Zea-Yonker
i. Website Subcommittee
Gladys Berly
Juan Carlos García
j. Editorial Subcommittee
Alison Hector
James Kiernan
María Julia Meyer
Leonardo Rojas
k. Fairs and Bazaars Subcommittee
Ana María Lemos
Lucrecia Zea-Yonker
l. Subcommittee on Events
René L. Gutiérrez
Aida M. Rothe
Raúl Plata
m. Subcommittee on Gender Issues
Anna Chisman, Coordinator
Dalcy Cabrera
Patricia Downes
Ian Edwards
Carmen Lomellin
Manuel Metz
Preliminary report of the Subcommittee
on Harassment in the Workplace
The principal representative on this
Subcommittee, Carlos Humud, said that the Subcommittee’s mandate was to
draw up a policy to eradicate any form of harassment in the workplace,
including sexual harassment. To that end, the Subcommittee was studying all
available information on the topic and would base its work on what had been
done on workplace harassment in other international organizations. Once the
norms had been drawn up, they would be presented to the Administration for
consideration and subsequent implementation. He stressed the importance of
engaging in dialogue with the Administration at the highest possible level
in order to impress on it the seriousness and importance of the topic.
Contribution for the Leo S. Rowe
birthday celebration
The Chair announced that he had received a
request for a contribution to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Leo S. Rowe, on
September 17. The contribution was in the amount of $150.00. The Chair
recalled that it was precisely during Dr Rowe’s term, in 1928, that the
Welfare Committee, which went on to become what was now the Staff
Committee, was established. He therefore proposed that the 75th anniversary
of the Staff Committee be celebrated on that date.
Request from the Art Group
The Art Group requested a contribution
from the Staff Committee as it had the previous year. The Committee asked
that any future request include not only the amount ($500.00) but also a
statement of accounts. The same would be requested of all other
subcommittees requesting contributions.
Formulation of expenditures for the
fiscal year
The Chair referred to the budget report
presented to the Special Assembly. In that report, the amount appearing
under “Donations” was $13,000. He said that, while the figure seemed very
high, it was because that heading also included the opening of a special
account to assist contributing staff requiring a guarantor for the Leo S.
Rowe Fund and that that fund currently had a balance of $10,020. He
underscored that, in a new budget, a distinction would have to be made
between those expenditures. He therefore proposed that a Subcommittee on
Budget be established and appointed Nubia González as coordinator and
Lucrecia Zea-Yonker, Miguel Angel Merino, and Gladys Berly as members.
Audit of Association funds
To assess the status of the Association’s
funds, the Committee decided to ask a volunteer accountant to prepare a
report indicating the Association’s income and expenditures.
Gift Shop
It was suggested that James Kiernan be
consulted about how the Staff Committee’s Gift Shop might become a reality.
The following staff members offered to serve on the Subcommittee: Nubia
González, Juan Carlos García, Ana Maria Lemos, Miguel Angel Merino, Aida M.
Rothe, and Lucrecia Zea-Yonker. In that connection, James Kiernan was asked
to meet with the group. The meeting was initially scheduled for August 1 at
2:30 p.m. Raúl Plata proposed that a seed fund be available to launch the
project.
AROAS observer
The Chair suggested establishing a link
with the Association of Retirees, for example, to help it to publish its
news on the Staff Association’s Web page. It was suggested that Domingo
Acevedo, the AROAS President, be invited to one of the Staff Committee
meetings as an observer. The Chair considered that it could be mutually
beneficial to include AROAS in the Staff Association’s activities.
Medical Insurance Trust Fund Committee
The Chair noted that that Committee had
been established in 1999 and that the current representatives were Juan
Luis Colaiácovo and Silvia Gutiérrez. He then said that the Trust Fund had
gone through a very difficult period, with losses, but that it seemed that
the situation in the current year seemed more promising.
Terry Woods Emergency Fund
The Chair reported that the Fund had
originated in a contribution the staff had made to Terry Woods’ widow. At
that time, Mrs. Wood did not accept the contribution and said that she
wanted the Fund to benefit the staff as a whole since her husband had
always helped the staff. The Chair indicated that the current fund balance
was $2,000 and that it was feared that it might disappear. He therefore
suggested that rules of procedure for the Fund be drawn up, indicating how
the funds were to be used and how to replenish it. The staff would thus be
made aware of the Fund’s existence and purpose.
Continuing contracts
The Chair reported that the Department of
Human Resource Services was to inform candidates who had passed the
language exams. The interviews were expected to begin in September, thus
completing the last requirement of the process.
Retirement and Pension Fund
The Chair announced that Eloy Mestre would
give a talk before the end of the year on retirement and implications for
the retirement fund.
Life insurance or loyalty benefit
The Chair put before the Committee the
possibility of setting up a life insurance as a loyalty benefit for
contributing members who were up to date in their contributions to the
Association. He said that there were currently 368 contributing members.
The benefit would be proportionate to the amount of contributions. Carlos
Humud and Gladys Berly considered that it would be much effective if the
life insurance were underwritten by an established company that specialized
in life insurance. The Committee entrusted the Chair with contacting María
Victoria Rodríguez to obtain proposals.
Work Plan and follow-up
The Committee identified four important
issues for the Committee during this term: performance evaluations,
continuing contracts, harassment in the workplace, and the management
study. It was pointed out that the last item would have a great impact on
the staff.
Regular Staff Assembly
The Regular Staff Assembly was held on
July 23 to install the new Staff Committee, 2002-2003. On that occasion,
reports were presented on the Regular Assembly in 2002 and the Staff
Committee 2002-2003 (see Staff News 8/03-04). Likewise, a treasurer’s
report was presented which showed a net balance of $6,555.35 at the
conclusion of the 2002-2003 Committee’s term. The President thanked Nubia
González and Corina Alvarez for the report. A report was also presented by
the staff representative on the Retirement and Pension Committee, who
indicated that, after three semesters without interest, the staff would be
credited with 1.5 percent on balances as of December 31, 2002 (see Staff
News 103 corr./02-03). The President thanked the representatives on the
Retirement and Pension Committee, Oscar Harasic and Daniel Vilariño, for
keeping the staff informed. The President of the Staff Association for
2003-2004 then delivered his address, which appears in Staff News 9/03-04.
At the conclusion of business, a few staff members requested the floor to
comment on matters raised by the President, e.g., continuing contracts,
harassment in the workplace, and the evaluation system
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