On August 11, at 4:00 PM, the Staff Committee met with the Secretary General Elect and with Mr. Donald Monroe Herrera.

The Secretary General Elect welcomed the Committee members and, briefly, summarized his business administration experience in both the public and private sectors, where on occasion, he had to handle difficult but successful labor negotiations. He said that at the OAS, as in any other organization, human capital is very important and success depends on the contributions of its people. He also pointed out the fact that, as everyone knows, he will begin his term of office in the middle of a financial crisis and a budget deficit situation. The Secretary General Elect stated that on January 31, he must present his reorganization plan to the Permanent Council. He said that the plan will be difficult, but must be done. However, he hopes that this plan would put the Organization on the road to fulfilling the member states’ mandates and expectations, and will be designed keeping in mind the good of the institution, and not individual interests.

The Secretary General Elect considers that the OAS should work as a single organization, with a homogeneous image, and not as a group of departments, each with its own flag. His purpose in the administrative area is to create an “esprit de corps” and a teamwork environment. He noted that his work style has always been to get involved in everything and that he likes always to be well informed; therefore, his administration of the General Secretariat will function under those same parameters. He recognized that the General Secretariat possesses qualified staff and it will be necessary to take advantage of that. With regard to the Committee, he said that he was interested in maintaining a cordial relationship in order to deal with the upcoming challenges in the best way possible.

The President thanked the Secretary General Elect for his frankness, and said that both the Committee and the staff are willing to cooperate with him and help to make his term of office a successful one. Also, recalling the Secretary General Elect’s words, the President stressed the need of maintaining an open communication channel. She then described the staff’s major concerns.

1. Salaries - The President said that the Committee is aware that the reorganization of the General Secretariat will bring many changes. She added that the Committee understands the budgetary problem, but also recognizes it is always the staff that is blamed and that is affected. However, she reminded, this is a service organization and as such it needs human resources. For information purposes, the Staff Committee gave the Secretary General Elect two brief background documents on parity with the United Nations and a summary of jurisprudence from the OAS Administrative Tribunal on cases related to that issue.
   

2. Continuing contracts – The Secretary General Elect was informed about last year's process regarding continuing contracts and how, in accordance with the established rules, a list with the names of the staff who qualify for a second round of applications for this kind of contract should have been published in April – but to date, no list has been published. According to information obtained by the Committee, the list is being reviewed in the Department of Human Resources Services. The Committee considers that this should be an automatic process, and requests that it be continued.
   

3. Workplace harassment – The Committee reported on the work that had been done on this issue, which concluded when Secretary General Cesar Gaviria was given a document of what could become a Policy on Workplace Harassment. The document is currently in the Department of Legal Services. The Secretary General Elect said that this is a highly sensitive matter that needs to have a specific policy.

At the end of the meeting the President asked the Secretary General Elect to take the Staff Committee into account on any subject related to the OAS staff, and in any other matter where he thinks the Committee could help during the reorganization process. Also, she invited him to meet with all the OAS staff. The Secretary General Elect agreed with this suggestion, which will be carried out once he takes office.

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