Staff Union Dismisses UN Restructuring as “Chaotic, Incoherent, Rushed & Lacking Strategy”

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder who coordinates a Task Force responsible for the ongoing restructuring plans.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 8 2025 (IPS) - A coalition of UN staff unions, led by the 60,000-strong Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA), has written to UN member states criticizing the UN80 reform process as “incoherent and lacking strategy”.

The union, one of the largest single coalitions in the world body, is asking the 193 member states to take over the UN reform process which is currently in the hands of a Task Force.

https://www.ccisua.org/about-us/

Among several issues raised by the (CCISUA), UN80 is dismissed as “chaotic and rushed.” In a critical analysis, the staff union points out that the proposed restructuring:

• Doesn’t address the roots of the problem
• Forces managers to cut positions without an analysis of how the UN can be more relevant
• May need to be fixed by the next Secretary-General
• Will impact frontline services (either through UN 80 or prevailing funding shortages)
• Will result in a loss of capacity especially at the national level
• Shows a poor understanding of how the UN system is currently structured
• Is led by a task force that is arbitrarily composed, which in turn biases the outcomes
• Will be costly to implement
• Is being carried out without consultation.

The letter calls on UN member states to take greater control of the process.

Separately, the Secretariat staff unions wrote to the President of the General Assembly requesting to address member states on UN80.

“Closer to Geneva, a good example of issues with the coherence of UN80 is OHCHR downsizing offices in the field while expanding offices in Vienna under the justification of getting closer to those we serve”.

As a reminder, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed his special adviser, Guy Ryder, to lead UN 80. “We will be following up with further actions to contain the damage being caused by Mr. Ryder’s initiative,” the letter said.

Guy Candusso, a former First Vice-President of the UN Staff Union in New York, told IPS the reform process is usually in the hands of those who want to protect their own interests

“The UN, since Under-Secretary-General Joseph Connor left, has become top heavy with a proliferation of D2s and above. Reforms put forward are already driven by politics.”

Putting it in the hands of member states, he cautioned, is not going to help since it comes down to money. “If the funds are not forthcoming then I can’t see a good outlook for staff,” he said.

Meanwhile, Laura Johnson, Executive Secretary and Ian Richards, President of the UN Staff Union in Geneva, have provided an update on the latest developments regarding the UN 80 initiative.

The Staff-Management Committee (SMC), the global body for consultations between management and staff unions, met at the headquarters of the UN Mission in Kosovo last week.

First, despite its repeated assertions to the General Assembly and staff, management at the SMC did not present detailed UN80 proposals (including the 20 per cent budget cuts, which apply to regular budget (RB) and peacekeeping posts) to the unions and would not consult on UN80.

The only exception to this was a circular and incomplete discussion on potential mitigating measures to assist staff affected by cuts or relocations, once a final decision is made by the General Assembly on the 2026 budget at the end of this year. We asked management to correct its miscommunications on union consultation, but it has so far refused.

Given this, staff unions have had to engage informally with member states directly (see further down). On the mitigating measures, these remain subject to final approval, but are broadly the following:

• In July/August, agreed termination packages will be offered to staff who will be over 55 by the end of the year.
• No staff need to relocate before 30 June 2026 and there may be remote onboarding and up to 3 months of telecommuting from the original duty stations if possible.
• If the approved 2026 budget has more staff than posts for a particular entity, this entity would need to activate the downsizing policy and set up Staff-Management Groups to carry out a comparative review to determine an order of retention of staff. This would take place January to February 2026. There will also be measures to ensure that RB fixed-term contracts expiring before then are renewed.
• Staff who are separated may have the option of being put on special leave without pay (SLWOP) for a period to be determined.
• There will also be flagging in Inspira to prioritise selection of staff in retention group 1 of the comparative review if new positions later become available. Subject to agreement by the Secretary-General, this flagging period will be extended beyond what is set out in the downsizing policy as an exceptional measure.
• If posts are moved, including to a common administrative platform, staff would normally move with their post. If staff don’t want to move, other suitable staff may be able to volunteer.

“The lack of finality on these measures and the lack of consideration of proposals presented by unions has been frustrating and will create more anxiety, as we made clear to management”, the letter said.

In addition to the cuts to RB and peacekeeping posts (20%), the initial phase of UN80 will establish common administrative platforms (CAPs), first in Geneva and New York and then in other locations.

Unions repeatedly asked for clarification on the CAPs as it is likely that administrative posts across the UN Secretariat will be reduced and appointments terminated, necessitating the activation of the downsizing policy.

In particular, “we asked for further explanation on how the order of retention for administrative posts across duty stations, entities and funding streams will be managed, but were unable to get clarity.”

It is clear that the General Assembly’s decision on the 2026 budget will be key. Therefore, staff unions have been informally engaging with member states.

The letter sent by CISUA highlighted the serious consequences of the UN 80 initiative on delivery, its lack of vision and the feeling that task force members were using the process to their own ends.

It also questioned how UN 80 will resolve the liquidity situation that triggered the initiative.

Many of these concerns were mentioned by member states during an informal briefing to the General Assembly last week. One member state has also circulated a draft resolution for member states to have greater oversight of the process.

Additionally, said the letter, Guy Ryder has retreated from his previous position of UN 80%. He said that the budget proposals with 20 per cent cuts were for entity heads to reflect on how they could cut costs. The Secretary-General will not necessarily make all these cuts and the final budget will reflect his priorities.

When asked what those priorities were, Ryder said he wasn’t able to reply.

“Our engagement with member states has not been without consequences. Management said at SMC that the unions had breached the staff rules and scolded unions for fulfilling their advocacy role. As an example, UNHCR management has tried to intimidate its staff representative. We called out this action and clearly set out how the staff rules, standards of conduct and General Assembly resolution 67/255 in fact explicitly allow for this important engagement”.

“We will continue to keep you updated and fight to roll back this harmful and pointless reform. The Secretary-General should be saving the UN. We believe Guy Ryder is doing the opposite”.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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