Meeting with the Assistant Secretary General 

            On the afternoon of Thursday, November 10, 2006, a delegation from the Staff Committee met with the Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, and his Chief of Staff, Ms. Sherry Tross.  The meeting was in further response to a presentation made by the Assistant Secretary General during the installation of the new Staff Committee on July 18, 2006 and to bring to his attention urgent concerns of a number of staff members and contractors in the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.   

            The Staff Committee delegation included President Rene L. Gutierrez, Vice President, Magaly Rothe, members Luis Batlle and Bruce Rickerson, and alternate member Enrique H. Vidal 

            The Assistant Secretary General welcomed the delegation and reiterated his positive attitude towards the staff of the General Secretariat.  During the meeting, he stated on several occasions his willingness to collaborate closely with the staff, adding that this is also the position of the Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza. 

            President Gutierrez thanked Ambassador Ramdin for his hospitality and mentioned a number of matters that are of great concern to the staff.  These included: workplace harassment by supervisors, failure by senior staff to keep the promise of the Secretary General to have produced a list of those eligible for Continuing Contracts as well as completing the long-delayed round of selection for these posts before the end of 2006, and the benefits of renewing the Career Service, as other organizations found essential following a decision to end it. 

            In response, Ambassador Ramdin expressed surprise that Executive Order 05-07, Prohibition against Workplace Harassment, of April 11, 2005 had never been translated into Spanish and circulated in English and Spanish to the General Secretariat.  He said that he would discuss the matter with the Secretary General and, assuming that the Secretary General would not want to change the Executive Order, the Assistant Secretary General made a commitment to translate it. 

            Ambassador Ramdin said that he believes that reinstituting the Career Service would be extremely helpful, adding “if you want to build a strong Organization people need to be committed and have security.”  He added that, until the Career Service could be recreated, the Continuing Contract procedures should be followed, as previously indicated by the Secretary General. 

            In response to a question from the delegation, the Assistant Secretary General expressed surprise that no policy has yet been announced regarding the status of persons whose “long-term” or other contracts are scheduled to expire on December 31, 2006.  He noted the concern of the Staff Committee that this matter and other personnel uncertainty must be addressed immediately, and he promised to take this up with the Secretary General at the earliest opportunity, in keeping with his view that staff needs to feel a greater sense of security. 

            Regarding the theme of workplace harassment, Ambassador Ramdin said that he had some concerns of his own.  The entire group discussed recent indications of intimidation of employees as well as documented instances of unilateral decisions by supervisors against long-time, productive employees which had been approved and announced by the Department of Human Resources.  The Assistant Secretary General indicated that retreating from imprudent decisions can have very negative results. 

            The Staff Committee delegation added that it appears that many personnel, policy, and budget decisions appear to be taken by very small groups in secret.  The Assistant Secretary General stated that if this is the perception of staff, it contradicts the desire of the Secretary General and himself to project a transparent image.   

            The Staff delegation urged the Assistant Secretary General to participate and ask questions about secret processes and decisions.  President Gutierrez especially expressed concern that the Standing Committee on personnel policies and rules had not been reconstituted formally, although changes are being considered in the Staff Rules and the General Standards, among other area.  The delegation noted that the exclusion of early, effective participation by the Staff Association and its appointees fueled the perception of anti-transparency and anti-participatory decision-making and that further hasty decisions, such as those recently announced, would be seen for what they are. 

            Ambassador Ramdin said that the Secretary General was aware of these kinds of issues, but that he would remind him of them in person.  “We want an open environment,” he stated, “and we want your help [the staff] to strengthen capacity and transparency.” 

            President Gutierrez commented that, in his opinion, Human Resources is the most important area and that the loss of experienced persons through retirement and transfer resulted in lots of changes.  The delegation strongly advocated that, if revisions to position descriptions or position audits were being considered, that outside experts with deep expertise in the United Nations system should be retained for such purposes.  He added that the planning for any of these possibilities should already include representatives of the Staff Association.  A decision-making process that would result in changes to the Staff Rules, the General Standards, reliance on the UN system, and exclusion of effective participation by the representatives of the Staff Association from the beginning of any discussions would be extremely questionable, as has been the case in recent personnel decisions. 

            Without commenting on all of the previous items, Ambassador Ramdin expressed the hope that such matters “would be taken care of.”   

            The Staff Committee mentioned that there are rumors of a convoluted budget process that is being tried with several areas of the OAS and specifically asked that the Assistant Secretary General learn as much as possible about the practical aspects that have gone into this planning, which did not include representatives of the Staff Association.  The delegation in general thought that recent mistakes have been a “wake up call” for staff, which could be remedied by much greater communication and cooperation. 

            Before the meeting ended, a member of the delegation noted that the recent decision was only reversed because the person in question was able to get swift, effective assistance from the member states.  “What would happen for those of us who might be targets of additional imprudent decisions, but who may not be able to rely on a member state to intervene?” he said.

            The meeting ended, as it had begun, on a very positive note.  The Staff Committee welcomed the positive words of the Assistant Secretary General and the Secretary General and offered their expertise and energy to utilize wise policies and procedures.  At the same time, the Staff Committee noted that it was very late in the calendar year – therefore action would be needed immediately. 

            Ambassador Ramdin echoed the positive theme and said that he believes that additional opportunities should also be found so that the elected officials of the Organization can interact with staff less formally, as well as having opportunities for the staff to get to know each other better.  He particularly noted the possibility of social, emotional and cultural activities that would demonstrate the commitment to high levels of staff appreciation and participation in the OAS. 

            Finally, the Assistant Secretary General said that his door was open to staff at any time and, further, designated Ms. Tross to be the point of contact in his office.