At the bottom of this article, you will find the translation into the other working languages of the ILO.
Dear colleagues,
This will be my last official act before I wrap up my work as a member of the Staff Union Committee. After 14 years without a pause, the time has come for me to prepare for retirement and wrap up my work in SECTOR.
I first ran for the SUC in 2010, after the then-Chair, Chris Land-Kaslauzkas, asked me to help because my experience with unions in the public service. His successor, Catherine Comte-Tibergien, also asked me time an again to join her in the Staff Union bureau since she first took over, and I welcomed the opportunity to contribute– without knowing that I would end up leading the Staff Union in different roles. After my stint as Chair in 2022, it has also been a pleasure to support my successor, Severine, in her titanic effort to finalize decade-old projects and revitalize the Staff Union. It has been a fantastic experience working to apply in the house the same principles that we promote around the world, in an environment that surprisingly did not espouse them willingly.
We have been through so many great experiences together. I’ve been with the Staff Union long enough to participate in two rounds of negotiations on recruitment and selection, maternity protection and generic job descriptions, and one each on travel conditions, harassment, FWA and now in the yet-to-finish round on contracts and mobility. I joined the great ILO colleagues in many AGMs, union days and even two strikes! All of this was a non-stop rush of adrenaline that I enjoyed with a lot of help and company from the great colleagues that you have elected to the SUC (both global and local) and to the bureau. Every single one of them deserves my admiration and gratitude for the great amount of energy and dedication that they have given ILO colleagues.
Sometimes we had to face sad situations like conflicts between colleagues, pandemics (who can forget!) and helping colleagues placed in harm’s way, and the Staff Union and colleagues always showed their solidarity.
I have also witnessed the great respect that this, our staff union, has commanded in the Administration, the UN hierarchy, and other staff representatives. The passion and discipline that all ILO staff have dedicated to defending our principles and rights have paid off, and should make us all proud, as I am. I have witnessed that the slogans “the union makes us strong” and “divided we beg, united we bargain” are much more than words—they are the spirit of the world of work, the world that we have all chosen to live in. And all this with a smile, beating odds that we could once see as formidable. As I said in one AGM, this staff union is the unstoppable force that meets unmoveable objects—and moves them. And it must continue to do so, for which you can count on me even if not in leadership positions. I have made this commitment to Severine, which I intend to keep. I can be out of the Committee, but its values and principles will remain in me.
As a last word for today (I never do run out of them, it seems), I want to thank you all for the great solidarity that you have offered me as union members. I leave the SUC convinced that the union is a great way to channel workers’ aspirations and power, and will always remain a loyal soldier. I want to invite each one of you (yes, you!) to consider running in elections to represent staff and live fully what the ILO stands for. This includes working as union steward, local committee or SUC member, JAAB, IRG, SHIF, SUAF, Pension, Election or audit committees, et cetera.
In Solidarity Forever,
Carlos
Version française : ici
Spanish version (deepl) : aquì