By Kemo Cham
A regional salary survey done by Sierra Leonean UN employees in the country shows the workers’ concerns over disparity are genuine.
A copy of the result of the comparison of what UN workers are paid in the four Mano River Union countries reveal that the Sierra Leonean national staff earn the least pay, compared to their counterparts in Guinea, Liberia and Ivory Coast.
According to the document, a copy of which was obtained by Politico, a UN employee at Grade 2 on the institution’s pay scale, for instance, receives the equivalent of US$249, compared to US$834 for their Ivorian counterparts, US$ 600 for their Guinean counterparts and US$540 for their Liberian counterparts.
The document shows that UN employees in Francophone countries are paid better than their counterparts in Anglophone countries.
And among the lot, Sierra Leonean employees receive the least.
The disparity cuts across all 10 pay grades in the UN system, as the document shows. And in all cases, the Sierra Leonean workers get paid the least, with some getting even half what their Ivorian counterparts get.
This report comes amidst protests by the Sierra Leonean staffers of the world body over what they described as “a grossly inhuman and unfair salary scale”. They say it is the lowest any UN national staff gets anywhere in the world.
Earlier this week, the workers issued a strike notice to the Country Office over the issue.
Workers for the 11 UN agencies in the country told Politico that they had resolved to embark on an indefinite sit-down strike if their demands were not met by the 25 November 2019.
They are calling for a 100% increase in their salary, which they say is necessary to alleviate the current socioeconomic difficulties they face with their dependants. The workers are also crucially asking for a UN Mission to visit Sierra Leone and undertake a “comparative regional scoping” to ascertain conditions that warrant the regionalisation of national staff salaries and other benefits.
They also warned against any attempt at intimidation, noting that as they are committed to “collectively defend” their members.
The staff are from UNDP, IOM, WHO, UN Women, UNFPA, FAO, UNICEF, UNOPS, WFP, UNAIDS and UNIDO. Their 21-day notice ends on 25 November but the staff have already started their protest action by wearing black to go to work every day.
Sunil Saigal, UN Resident Coordinator, earlier told Politico that they were engaging with the aggrieved staffers in an effort to address their concerns.
“We are a global system and we have what is known as the Common System when it comes to determining salaries across the world,” he said.
Saigal said that Common System was guided and managed by the International Civil Service Commission, which is an independent body.
“I have no say in establishing the salaries of any staff. It is something that is determined centrally,” he stressed.
He said several factors determined the nature of salaries for UN workers across the region, including purchasing power.
© 2019 Politico Online
