Dear Secretary General, dear Mr Chikoti,
The Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF) urgently calls your attention to the following USF comments about the decision to be taken by the 111th session of the OACPS Council of Ministers, 14 – 17 December 2020.
In order to avoid any misunderstanding, it should be stressed that the USF firmly believes in the importance and added value of the EU-ACPS cooperation, in the role of the OACPS Secretariat and in the professional dedication of our colleagues at the Secretariat. The USF also acknowledges the autonomy of the OACPS Secretariat to define and shape the Staff regulations applicable to its staff as being part of its operational autonomy.
However, USF is also aware of the OACPS Secretariat’s intention to terminate all contracts on 31 December 2020 and re-employ some staff on 1 January 2021 under the so-called “revised Staff Regulations” and the “New Employment Regulations”.
The USF considers that this decision is unheard of in the international public service and will have massive implications. Instead, the USF highly recommends following the classic method of reforming the working conditions of international organisations: analysing and justifying the need for change, fully consult the staff representatives on the considered changes and define transitional measures, in order to achieve both the aims of the reform, the obligation to respect the acquired rights of individuals and thus overall legal certainty.
The USF strongly recommends a postponement of the currently considered action that foresees the termination of the contracts and the re-hiring exercise. To be fully clear on our intentions, the USF considers the radical approach described above as even harmful for the entire international public service. The radical approach would inevitably oblige the USF to use all available means – political and legal – to support individual staff members and their representatives, both in their own interest and in the long-term interest of all other affiliated employees in USF branches.
Read the entire USF letter to OEACP here.
