STU/67th Council/17/024
3 November 2017

Dear colleagues,

You will find below the oral statement, delivered by STU on 3 November 2017 before the APX Commission at the 39th Session of the General Conference.

Thank you Madam Chairperson, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.

STU welcomes the willingness of Member States to ensure that measures are taken to promote geographical and functional mobility of staff members, and supports the idea of a 360-degree performance evaluation that will enable staff members to evaluate their supervisors.

These are just about the only two positive points that can be taken away from the documents presented at this 39th session of the General Conference.

The STU notes with regret the proposal not to raise the mandatory age of separation to 65 years old on 1 January 2018, and is concerned that, as always, staff will be the victims of the Organization's financial crisis. STU is also alarmed by the argument that the Organization would need flexibility in case staff reductions would be considered due to budget constraints.

In the absence of a real succession plan , which we hope for, we will only welcome the postponement of the implementation of this measure on two cumulative conditions :

• The promised savings of 1.6 million US dollars in 2018-2019 should be used to finance the training of staff, especially those who will replace the 112 retiring colleagues over this period;
• When these 112 vacant posts are up for recruitment, priority should be given to staff members and any recruitment of external candidates should be avoided.

It is only on these two conditions that the Administration’s decision will allow a semblance of career development opportunity for internal staff. It should certainly not be used as an excuse for recruiting external candidates supposedly to contribute to the "renewal of the workforce"; a term often synonymous with stagnation for current staff.

With regard to the Medical Benefit Fund , the STU is counting on Members States to rectify the errors of the Administration and go back to the situation prior to 2014, thereby enforcing the judgements of the ILOAT.

As for the Human Resources Management Strategy for 2017-2022 , we have already said at the 202nd session of the Executive Board that it does not meet our expectations because there is no mention of each person’s responsibility in human resources management.

We hope that the new Administration will be committed to enforcing the rules, at all levels, by setting itself as an example. Exemplarity is the first quality of a good leader. If he/she allows him/herself certain deviations, the whole hierarchical chain would become corrupt.

We therefore call once again for the implementation of decisions, the respect for rules, the recognition and rewarding of skills. It is this and only this, which will enable our Organization to get back its serenity and efficiency.

Thank you for your attention.