From the Staff Committee 2011-2012
(202) 458-6230- Fax (202) 458-3466
June 21, 2012
SN- 63/11-12 Original: Spanish
June 18, 2012
Excellency
Secretary General José Miguel Insulza
Organization of the American States
Washington, D.C.
Secretary:
On behalf of the Staff Committee I would like to thank you for the informative session convened by the General Secretariat on June 14 to address issues of interest to the staff of the General Secretariat, such as the financial situation and its impact on personnel.
After the dialogue, the staff and the Committee consider that some vital questions remain unanswered, in particular regarding the imminent separation from service of staff members. In that regard, we hope to be promptly apprised of the criteria that will be used to determine said separations, the dates in which they will occur and the number of posts that the General Secretariat will eliminate in 2012 and 2013. We greatly appreciate the Chief of Staff’s commitment to actively engage the Staff Committee on this matter, as opposed to only informing the Committee.
In addition to the above mentioned request for information, the staff asked that the Committee elevate the following recommendations, which we respectfully submit for your consideration:
1. To freeze all new hires financed by either the Regular Fund (FR) or the Indirect Cost Recovery fund (ICR) until such time that that the separations from service are completed.
2. To include in the list of pending competitions those positions financed with Specific Funds and ICR funds that have served to the General Secretariat for at least three years.
3. To publish an updated list of staff eligible to compete for continuing contracts, updated to April 2012, in accordance with the General Standards, and to call for competitions as soon as possible.
4. To publish an updated list of all pending competitions.
5. To undertake a Secretariat-wide audit of posts, in accordance with regulations and which has not been carried out since 1996.
6. To carry out, as soon as possible, the performance evaluation (PES) of the staff of the Secretariat.
7. To publish the number of vacancies and their location within the Secretariat.
I would like to reiterate prior requests that you grant the Staff Committee a hearing to discuss these issues and respectfully request that, in taking the necessary actions, transparency of the process and equal treatment be ensured for all staff of the Organization.
Thanking you in advance for your attention and response to the proposals, I take the opportunity to renew the assurances of my highest esteem and consideration.
Respectfully,
Carla M. Sorani Hluchan
President
OAS Staff Association