GENEVA: Angered by “unfair” pay cuts, UN staff in Geneva are planning a half-day strike on Tuesday, as dozens of ministers and other dignitaries attend high-level events at the organisation’s European headquarters.

“We have tried other forms of protest before, to no avail... They have left us no choice,” Ian Richards, who heads the UN staff unions association in Geneva, said on Sunday.

He said it remained unclear how many of around 9,500 UN staff members in Geneva would participate in Tuesday’s work stoppage, or what impact it would have, pointing out that “this is not like a bus company where the buses just stop.” “But we certainly expect this to have an impact,” Richards said.

It comes as UN staff received their first pay slips showing a 3.5-per cent salary cut, and with the knowledge that the cut will swell to five per cent by June, he said.

The half-day work stoppage will take place during what is arguably one of the busiest weeks of the year at the United Nations in Geneva, with around 100 heads of state, government ministers and country representatives from around the world set to attend the main annual sessions of the UN’s top human rights and disarmament bodies.

A spokeswoman for the UN in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, said in an email that staff should be “reminded that actions which disrupt or interfere with official activity of the Organisation may be considered contravening staff obligations.” She stressed though that “UN Geneva recognises and respects the right of staff to freedom of association and acknowledges the dissatisfaction of staff” linked to pay cuts.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018