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

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

Category : Message68

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).