As you may be aware, a group of countries has submitted a proposal in the current budget negotiation, due to end on Friday, to introduce cuts to professional salaries of between 8 and 10 percent as of January 2012. We know that faced with rising living costs, staff in Geneva are already living on tight budgets. This proposal is therefore all the more extraordinary given that our comparator, the US civil service has only had a pay freeze and not a pay cut.

As members of the CCISUA Federation, we sent this statement yesterday to the General Assembly and this statement to the Secretary-General. We are also making contact with member states on this matter through our colleagues in New York.

In accordance with Article 16 of our statutes, we will begin steps to organize an extraordinary consultative procedure for a proposal to strike. This will be coordinated with the other staff unions of the United Nations. We will keep you informed and ask for your support for any necessary action.