UNITED
NATIONS, May 1
-- On May Day
as workers
worldwide
rally and in
some
case strike,
at UN
Headquarters'
entrance
traffic circle
a march will
be held at
1:30 pm to
protest
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
"broken
promises"
including on
"forced
relocations"
of staff into
a "substandard
building."
UN
Translation
staff have
filed for and
won a
suspension of
action
blocking Ban's
Secretariat
from
relocating
them. Inner
City Press has
obtained the UN Dispute
Tribunal order
and puts it
online, here.
By May
2, Ban's
Secretariat
has been
directed to
"address, inter
alia, the
following
issues:
a.
When were the
Applicants
notified for
the first time
of the
proposed
move?
(Respondent is
to include any
supporting
documentation.)
b.
What is the
legal status
of the Capital
Master Plan
Guidelines,
referred to in
the
applications?
(Respondent is
to provide the
Tribunal with
a copy of the
Guidelines.)
c.
What is the
effective date
of the
proposed move
to the Albano
building?
(Respondent is
to include any
supporting
documentation.)
d.
What are the
official
documents
regulating the
size of
offices an
cubicles in
the United
Nations?
(Respondent is
to provide the
Tribunal with
these
documents.)"
The
protest
organizers
have said, and
we agree, that
there is, even
at
the UN, a
"right to
exercise free
speech... At
13:30, we will
proceed to the
fountain that
is located in
the circle in
front of the
Secretariat
Building to
peacefully
voice our
disagreements
with
management on
anything
related to the
Albano
building, from
the
broken
promises that
brought us
here in the
first place to
this
ill-conceived
move that has
put staff of
the different
services in a
situation
where they
have to
confront each
other for the
privilege of
working in a
substandard
building.
"You
are all
encouraged to
bring
signs of the
type that role
up to voice
your
grievances.
However, if
they're
attached to
wooden holders
being brought
through the
gates,
that might be
a problem.
It's our right
to exercise
free speech."
Free
speech at the
UN is much in
dispute.
Recently the
supervisor of
UN
Media
Accreditation
Stephane
Dujarric
contacted
Inner City
Press
"urgently"
about a single
tweet,
saying he was
giving Inner
City Press a
chance. A
chance for
what?
The
tweet
concerned
how high
officials of
the UN are
selected, and
its
relation to
the veto
powers in the
Security
Council
(including for
selecting the
Secretary
General) of
those who won
World War II.
Could
this topic be
taboo?
The
UN press
corps, too, is
being primed
for a move
back to the
Secretariat
Building on
May 10. Why it
was delayed
was never
sufficiently
explained. The
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
asked for a
written
explanation
but not was
given.
Rather
the reply
involved a
non-consensual
raid
on Inner City
Press' office
on March 18 by
the
Department of
Public
Information,
which rifled
through papers
and
took
photographs,
later leaked
to
BuzzFeed.com,
including of
Inner
City Press'
desk and
bookshelf.
The
president of
the old UN
Correspondents
Association,
Pamela Falk of
CBS, was
present and
took
photographs;
when Inner
City Press
wrote
about that,
she issued
from her
CBSNews.com
e-mail account
a legal
threat to
"cease and
desist."
Free speech
indeed. We
will
cover the
protest(s).
Watch this
site.
, 
