Contribution to the Centenary event of the ILO Staff Union / Ita Marguet

Contribution to the Centenary event of the ILO Staff Union – (1920-2020) at the ILO Geneva.

Ita Marguet ex-General Secretary (1990-1992) ex-President of ILO Staff Union (1993-1995)

When I heard about the initial planned event, I had already made final arrangements to visit the ‘European Capital of Culture 2020’ in Galway, Ireland, therefore unable to be with ex-colleagues, members of the ILO Staff Union Committee and the Former Officials Section of the ILO Staff Union* I hope this contribution will achieve its purpose to greet all who participate in the worldwide Staff Union Virtual Event on 24 September 2020 for past and present staff. It contributes to the solidarity between generations preceding and succeeding in the collective effort to defend staff interests at ILO headquarters and colleagues worldwide. By extension, also to assist staff in the many organisations of the United Nations family serving in Geneva and internationally.

I am proud to have worked in the International Labour Office for twenty-five years. It included election to the Staff Union Committee, latterly on full-time detachment. It involved support to colleagues while serving as a staff representative on a number of statutory consultative committees within the ILO and the wider family of the United Nations system.  As staff representative I travelled from Geneva to attend meetings and missions to assist colleagues in ILO offices around the world.  Staff representative duties allowed me to address Sessions of the ILO Governing Body and also to serve on the internal bodies of the ILO as an elected representative. With determination and conviction, I was forthright in my efforts to defend the staff and often vocal in my judgement about the poor quality of management initiatives towards improving the quality of working life for ILO staff.

In my service as a member and Officer of the Staff Union Committee what I learned most was the need for one and all to remember why, and for whom, the ILO was created and the collective responsibility for generations of staff at all levels to promote and defend the Organisation’s raison d’ tre. It became my clarion call to the challenges of duty. Without fear or favour I did my best in the house built by workers for the workers.

A Retrospective (UNION 266, January 1997)

‘Farewell to Arms’ was the title of my letter in UNION to bid farewell to my friends and colleagues in the ILO and other organisations of the United Nations. After twenty-five years of service in positions within the Office, it was the occasion to acknowledge the enriching experience from which I had benefitted.  I remained committed to the ideals and values as set by the Organisation’s founding fathers in 1919. Over time its role was to become the social conscience of the United Nations while remaining a strong beacon of light shining forth for the protection and advancement of workers’ rights in the true sense of social dialogue and partnership.  In parting, I wished the grand institution of the ILO, the Staff Union and its elected Committee continued long life and prosperity towards a successful century ahead.  Into the twenty-first century this has been achieved. Now it is the responsibility of present and future generations to carry the torch in the worthwhile cause of social justice.

In the same issue, emanating from a first tripartite ILO Enterprise Forum 1996, at which staff were invited to attend, I provided a personal perspective on the question ‘What is the role of the unions’ that seems as pertinent today as it was then? While the question itself is indeed a challenge, in the house built by workers for the workers it is hoped that such enterprising events organised by the ILO continue to project our Organisation’s image by ensuring it responds to its universal mandate in the cause of true social dialogue and partnership at home and abroad. The principle of “tripartism” woven into its unique structure of governments, employers and workers’ organisations must be safeguarded.  Any attempt to “put down” one of the social partners in this process can only weaken the pillars upon which our Organisation is built bringing into question its fundamental role, if not its very raison d’etre.  It remains a challenge for those concerned when going forward.

*ILO Staff Union Rules, November 1995, added Appendix IV on Rules of the former officials’ section (pp 22-23).

List 2020 of former officials who died

Information communicated by the Office between January and December 2020.

In memoriam: The Bureau of the Section of Former Officials of the ILO Staff Union extends its sincere condolences to the bereaved families of the colleagues whose names are listed below, as it is currently impossible to send more personalised condolences.

Activities report 2019-2020

Presented at the General Assembly of the ILO Staff Union on 14^th October 2020 by François Kientzler, Executive Secretary of the Former Officials’ Section

 This report from the Former Officials’ Section, in view of the ongoing pandemic, is special. Members of the Bureau of the Staff Union’s Former Officials Section had not had access to their office for 6 months, from mid-March 2020 until 17 September. On that day, François Kientzler, Executive Secretary of the Section, after having followed all the protocol in force, was granted access to the ILO. Members of the Bureau met for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic on Wednesday, 23 September, outside the ILO.

We would like first of all to pay tribute to our late colleague, Nari (Venkataraman Narasimhan), who passed away in December 2019, and who has been a faithful treasurer of the Former Official’s Section since his retirement after having served as Treasurer of the ILO Staff Union for many, many years. He was known to all the Former Officials of the ILO and he assumed his responsibilities as Treasurer until his strength and life passed him by. He is greatly missed.

During all these months spent without access to the ILO we were able to maintain our contacts with our members and the Staff Union, in particular with Catherine Comte-Tiberghien, Chairperson, and her secretariat. The Former Officials’ Section, with its own office and access to the ILO’s computer system, was able to continue to consult the ILO intranet and its e-mail inbox from outside, just like the active staff members who were teleworking. We have also been able to respond to all the e-mails that were sent to us and to hear the concerns and sometimes the thanks that have been expressed by many retirees. We were able to access all the information disseminated by the ILO via the intranet, communicate by e-mail with our members and send them a letter in August. However, we have only been able to access our files since mid-September, which has not allowed us to make the required updates and, above all, to make progress in the publication of a new issue of the Message, which we are first publishing on our website.

Representatives of the Bureau of the Section attended the Staff Union’s General Meeting in February, just like every year. Given the pandemic, the event which had been planned for the spring to celebrate the Staff Union’s centenary, and which was to be a joint event for both active and retired officials, has not yet been able to take place. However, a link has been established on our website to the Staff Union’s blog, which contains interviews with the former Chairpersons of the Staff Union who were to take part in the celebration. The Section reaffirms its willingness to be more available to retirees in the regions to help them structure themselves and is ready to make space available to them on the Section’s website. It is counting on the regional Staff Representatives to facilitate this collaboration. The Section continued to receive information, in particular on the Pension Fund via AAFI-AFICS Geneva and has participated in two videoconferences of its Council.

Our website, hosted outside the ILO, was regularly updated thanks to Azeddine Sefrioui, our webmaster, with information we obtained from the ILO intranet and the Staff Union. Statistics on the number of visitors to the site highlighted its importance, reaching almost 500 in August. We have posted several articles that should appear in issue No. 68 of the Message. In this regard, Ivan Elsmark, Message‘s editor for over 20 years, has ceased his regular involvement and we are looking for another editor. We are considering a new format for this publication. We have also posted the last two issues of the Message (Nos. 65 and 66-67) which have not yet been archived by the ILO Library.

In fact, the year 2020 was to be a turning point in the organization and functioning of the Bureau of the Section. Our long-serving and loyal secretary, Marianne, retired at the end of December 2019, and we did not wish to replace her both for reasons of economy and because most members of the Bureau of the Section are computer literate. We have three PCs at our disposal. Two new members had just joined the Bureau and were confirmed in their nomination in the elections at the end of 2019, Carmen Sottas and Guy Bezou. John Myers was co-opted at the beginning of 2020 as two of the Bureau positions were vacant. We congratulate all three of them but regret that they have not been able to express their full talent and commitment to the members of the Section to date. The meeting of the Section’s Board on 23 September took stock of operational constraints but also of current and recurrent topics, namely the sickness and health protection of retirees and pension issues.

In order to explore different ways of transmitting the claim reimbursement forms to retirees, in the spring of 2020, the SHIF extended the possibility of sending them out electronically. This should be of great benefit to retirees from countries outside Geneva who have and use internet access. A test period was offered to some retirees and now the system is being extended to all. However, the transmission by mail or direct deposit of claims to the ILO remains, and will continue to remain, possible. The Bureau has not yet had an opportunity to take stock of this new practice with the Executive Secretary of the SHIF, whom it wishes to invite to a future meeting.

We have continued to contact all the retiring staff members whose names we receive each month from the Administration; this year, the number of retiring staff members was low. We have registered several memberships in the Section. The ILO Administration also sends us notices of the deaths of former officials or their spouses of which it is aware; we compile a list of deceased ILO retirees, former officials or spouses who are entitled to benefits; and we have published it on our website. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, we have recorded a significantly lower number of deaths than in previous years during the same period. This may be due to the caution of seniors during this pandemic period.

Finally, while some retired members of the Section have died, others have joined, and still others have changed addresses. As we have only recently been able to access the ILO we have not been able to update our files as we would have liked. But the door to the ILO has been opened again, and this task awaits us. We hope, by remaining cautious and following the protection guidelines, to be able to resume a more normal and regular activity. The Bureau of the Section has met in Gex in an association’s premises; this can only be a temporary situation for us. We hope to be able to return to our ILO premises as soon as possible but, of course, with due respect for all the health protection and provisions, particularly for the elderly, that the ILO has put in place.