Last month we informed you about the difficult negotiations currently taking place at the General Assembly on our terms and conditions. The latest news is even more worrying:

• the United States has proposed an 8 percent pay cut;
• the United Kingdom, on behalf of the largest contributing countries, has asked the Secretary-General to further cut costs;
• discussions on the pension have included a proposal to increase the staff contribution by one percent, reduce the organization’s contribution by one percent and review the two-track system;

All this is taking place at a time when staff are unable to negotiate on their conditions of work. The staff unions of the United Nations are taking this very seriously and have deployed a number of colleagues to New York in order to put our views to member states and reverse the trend.

In order to inform you on developments, we will be holding a short briefing session on Human Rights Day, Tuesday 10 December, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. It will take place outside the human rights room (3rd floor E–building). In keeping with local custom in difficult times, we will be serving a traditional Escalade vegetable soup and mulled wine (as well as soft drinks).

As part of the event, the Music Club will play a number of classical pieces based on the theme of human rights.

Human Rights Day was chosen in order to mark the fact that while UN staff are required to preach human rights to the rest of the world, the same rights are lacking within the organization.