At U.N., Labor Tensions Mar 10th Anniversary of Bombing By RICK GLADSTONE Published: August 19, 2013 The United Nations commemorated the 10th anniversary of the single deadliest assault in the organization’s history on Monday, the bombing of its Baghdad offices that killed 22 people, with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warning in a speech that since then “the attackers who target us have grown more sophisticated, more brazen and better armed.” But in some ways Mr. Ban’s commemoration remarks at the United Nations headquarters, on a day it has designated World Humanitarian Day, were overshadowed by aggrieved staff members, whose union representative presented Mr. Ban’s office with a letter asserting that his internal labor policies had compromised their safety and security. They said they were particularly upset by what they called Mr. Ban’s refusal to bargain with their union over issues related to staff assignments in hardship posts and conflict zones. The representative, Ian Richards, vice president of the Staff-Management Committee, a group of all 15 union chapters in the United Nations work force, announced that he was delivering the letter as part of his speech at the commemoration event, which followed Mr. Ban’s remarks. Mr. Richards also asserted that United Nations workers had become frequent targets. “The structures we have in place to support us need to reflect this increased danger,” stated the letter, which Mr. Richards released publicly. “As it stands, we are left vulnerable in too many ways. But, Mr. Secretary General, by refusing to meet with union leaders to discuss how to improve matters you are denying us a voice with which to speak and ultimately failing to assure our safety and protect us in the locations to which we are assigned.” It was unclear whether Mr. Ban had read the letter, which appeared to be an unusually blunt public airing of unhappiness among the United Nations staff on an occasion in which all employees had come together to remember a grievous loss. “There is a lot of anger among the staff about what’s been happening,” Mr. Richards said later in a telephone interview. Asked about Mr. Ban’s reaction to the letter, Martin Nesirky, a spokesman, said in an e-mail that “needless to say, once the letter has been received it will be carefully reviewed, and then I am sure there will be a response.” Mr. Nesirky also pointed to the full text of Mr. Ban’s commemoration remarks, in which he acknowledged the dangers faced by United Nations personnel and the hardships confronting their families, and asserted that he was addressing them. “We have learned from our losses,” Mr. Ban said. “We are changing the way we operate around the world.” Mr. Ban said more had been done to emphasize training of workers in dangerous places, trauma counseling and assistance to families of staff members who had been killed or wounded. Mr. Richards suggested in his speech that the steps undertaken had been inadequate and that the United Nations should be doing “all we can to bring staff deaths to zero.” He noted in his speech that over the past 10 years, 555 staff members and contractors had been attacked and more than 200 had been killed, not including 102 staff members lost in the 2010 Haitian earthquake. More than 30 United Nations workers have been killed in the past 10 months, including 4 in an attack on the United Nations compound in Somalia in June.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 04:05:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015