The Federal Committee of Union Syndicale was held on Saturday 1 July 2017 in Strasbourg while the EU’s tribute to the late Chancellor Helmut Kohl took place in parallel. The FC welcomed Maximin J. EMAGNA, President of the Staff Association of the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific), who came to present his organisation and his trade union struggles.
The Secretariat, based in Brussels, is the administrative machinery that enables the various components of the ACP Group of States to function. It is run by about 80 people. Trade union action is necessary there because human resources management is really the poor relation in this institution. It suffers from a systematic turnover of managerial staff after 4 years. Moreover, hierarchical relationships are very strongly marked (former ministers, ambassadors, former senior civil servants…) and the negotiated rules are regularly called into question. The General Staff Assembly, held at the end of June 2017, welcomed the request for affiliation to USF.
Among the major dossiers in which USF and its organisations will contribute their expertise and know-how is the clarification of the Staff Regulations. Several disputes have been settled before national courts or the ILO Administrative Tribunal. However, the Administration contests the competence of the TA-ILO. The Federal Committee of the Swiss Olympic Union has validated the application for membership. It will be up to the 2019 USF Congress to ratify this decision. The union already has a voting seat on the FC.
USF President Bernd Loescher welcomed the new membership, but also welcomed the interest that other USF member organisations had shown in the application.
USF welcome the ACP Staff Association in their family!
