The world’s most senior diplomat is being called on to referee the relentless infighting surrounding the management of the United Nations (UN) pension fund.
“We urge you to… reject the organizational changes proposed by the CEO.” — UN staff union appeal to Ban Ki-moonA staff union has launched an online petition addressed directly to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, urging him to strike down a package of policy changes proposed by the CEO.
“We believe these changes will (1) damage the environment in which our staff colleagues at the fund are required to work; and (2) undermine the integrity of our fund, including its investments,” the document stated. “We urge you to maintain the structure and functions of the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund and reject the organizational changes proposed by the CEO.”
Since May 6, the petition has gathered 1,809 signatures.
The union has tried this method before. Almost exactly a year ago—May 15, 2014—the labor organization began gathering signatures on another petition aimed at pressuring the secretary general into blocking the reforms.
“UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: Protect our pension fund from the wolves of Wall Street,” the 2014 edition’s headline read. Twelve months later, the title message had scarcely changed: “Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations: Maintain financial and structural integrity of UN Pension Fund.”
In the 12 months that elapsed between the two petitions, the union and pension management made no meaningful progress towards an agreement, if anything they grew more polarized. The relationship between the two parties demonstrably worsened.
Union officials accused CEO Sergio Arvizú of “massive fraud” last month during an emergency stakeholders meeting. A publically available video recording showed labor leaders detailing a litany of allegations against senior fund management, including tampering with documents, undisclosed conflicts of interest, splitting a contract into two parts to avoid oversight, and allowing certain employees to work beyond the mandated retirement age.
Arvizú shot back at the claims shortly thereafter in a letter to members, calling the charges “totally unfounded” and “fabricated to damage the fund.”
“It is incomprehensible why the staff union and the fund’s staff representatives oppose and vilify the efforts of the fund’s governing bodies and management to improve the financial control environment of the fund,” he wrote.
Yet the opposition’s platform has scarcely changed. The proposed governance revisions “would, in our view, result in an unwarranted concentration of power and authority in the hands of the CEO,” the union’s latest petition stated.
As the hardening conflict enters another year, one element has markedly changed. By this time last year, roughly a week into the petition campaign, nearly 10,000 people had signed up in support. This year, signatures have yet to break 2,000.
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