From: Comte-Tiberghien, Catherine
Sent: 18 September 2015 11:00
To: Vines, Greg
Subject: Response to Mail dated 18 September 2015 08:57 – Business Process review survey – Last chance to participate
Dear Mr. Vines,
I greatly appreciate all the efforts you have made personally to urge me to fill in this questionnaire on top of the numerous emails sent by the Directors and even the Director-General. Nevertheless, in my capacity as Chairperson of the Staff Union, I have had the opportunity, in the specific framework of industrial relations, to convey to you on many occasions the concerns of staff on the organisational governance and “health” of the ILO.
As already mentioned on numerous occasions, this questionnaire does not take into account the specificities of the ILO and uses a terminology which, while well known among the large global consultancy groups, is very distant from the one normally used in this organisation, such as social dialogue, solidarity, minimum protection floor, concertation, etc. … As a result, any staff member of the organisation might encounter difficulties when it comes to identifying themselves with and finding themselves in this exercise.
The Staff Union has oftentimes proposed to be involved in the preparation of this exercise aimed at the business process review and has received from you a clear rejection as you did not see any benefit from this involvement. The Staff Union did indeed receive, two days before its release, the draft broadcast concerning this survey, but does not consider this action as consultation.
Moreover, the question of anonymity remains of capital importance in this type of exercise and having personally gone through this questionnaire very carefully, I see that it is evident that anyone who fills in this survey can be easily identified. This of course does not encourage our colleagues, sometimes in precarious situations, to be frank.
So, what is the weight and legitimacy of such an exercise?
As Chairperson of the Staff Union I will make sure that this question is raised in the appropriate official fora.
Thank you,
Catherine Comte-Tiberghien