GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

staff representation was because of certain events that unfolded that exposed

certain flaws and weaknesses in the oversight and accountability mechanisms

of the UN system and I thought, “I want to do something and make change, I

suppose I should get into this area”. So I ran a campaign and this whole

process took me to Geneva and I was elected the first Vice Chair of the staff

council of Geneva and then I learned about various UN trade unions and

organisations such as CCISUA, FICSA and all that, so here I am. I am here to

introduce to you what CCISUA means. It is a committee of international staff

unions and associations of the United Nations system, so it is an international

federation comprised of UN staff, staff unions and associations committed to

provide equitable and effective representation of staff at all levels. Therefore,

CCISUA primarily represents members’ interests in interagency bodies that

make decisions and recommendations on conditions of service. We are one of

three staff federations serving unions and staff associations. The others are

FICSA and UNICEF.

What we do, we promote the common interest of international civil servants of

all categories whose staff unions and associations are members of CCISUA.

We are about 40,000 members. About 17 UN agencies are members of

CICCISUA because we are located all over the world. We were founded in

1982. What we also do is to promote staff unions and associations and other

staff representative bodies of the system to advise advisory and decision

making bodies with a united voice and particularly participate in various

activities and with our interlocutors, namely the ICSC which is the International

Civil Service Commission.

So generally we look into staff welfare, staff conditions in the deep field in

various locations, because we have a common ground among all the UN

agencies. We are rather unique because UN staff do not have a single

employer, they are employed by the 193 member states. Because they work

for an international agency, they are not protected by any national labour

legislation or international conventions. Although freedom of association is

written into the UN staff regulations, national unions are not recognised and

terms and conditions are negotiated directly with representatives of the

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