21 Oct 2012
The Amnesty International staff usually fights for the rights of other people, but now they are fighting for their own rights.
In a surprise move the staff went on strike last week after the management retracted their redundancy policy just hours before changes that would result in several staff members “going home” for good.
Fighting for their rights
According to Amnesty International, a third of their 500+ staff members voted to strike. Unite predict the actual number of those on strike today was nearer to 300.
Picket lines formed around the international HQ in Clerkenwell, London and around 100 staff members gathered in a near-by church hall for a rally protest.
At the rally Alan Scott, from Unite described Amnesty’s management as ‘one of the most mendacious employers I have ever worked with,’ before describing the strike action as ‘a struggle for the soul of Amnesty.’
Messages of solidarity from Amnesty branches around the world were read out, as well as messages from other unions worldwide. The Beirut office announced they are striking in solidarity while a message from the Netherlands office recognized the ‘hard decision’ to strike given the disruption the strike will cause to staff’s human rights campaigning.
Restructure
Amnesty released an official statement in response to the strike saying, ‘We very much regret that staff has taken the decision to take industrial action, while fully respecting their right to do so.’ They went on to explain the reshuffle comes as part of structural changes to the NGO which will move work from the London HQ to ‘ten regional hubs around the world, located closer to where human rights violations occur, particularly in the Global South and East.’
‘We very much regret that staff has taken the decision to take industrial action, while fully respecting their right to do so.’
A spokesperson from Unite explained that it is not the proposed changes that those on strike object to but ‘the way in which it is being done.’
This is not the first time the NGO faced criticism for its management decisions. The organization previously came under fire in 2011 when it was revealed that a secret pay-off to former directors had cost the charity £800,000. The payments were supposedly made to former secretary general Irene Khan, who reportedly received £500,000, and her deputy Kate Gilmore.
Speaking to press at the time Peter Pack, chairman of Amnesty’s international executive committee, said: ‘The payments to outgoing secretary general Irene Khan shown in the accounts of AI (Amnesty International) Ltd for the year ending March 31 2010 include payments made as part of a confidential agreement between AI Ltd and Irene Khan. It is a term of this agreement that no further comment on it will be made by either party.’
In a surprise move the staff went on strike last week after the management retracted their redundancy policy just hours before changes that would result in several staff members “going home” for good.
‘We very much regret that staff has taken the decision to take industrial action, while fully respecting their right to do so.’
In August this year the management announced that communications and campaign department would be merged, which would result in dozens of people losing their jobs. Just few hours before the announcement, the staff was informed that organization’s current redundancy police would not apply to any staff members who lost their jobs as a result of restructuring, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported.Fighting for their rights
According to Amnesty International, a third of their 500+ staff members voted to strike. Unite predict the actual number of those on strike today was nearer to 300.
Picket lines formed around the international HQ in Clerkenwell, London and around 100 staff members gathered in a near-by church hall for a rally protest.
At the rally Alan Scott, from Unite described Amnesty’s management as ‘one of the most mendacious employers I have ever worked with,’ before describing the strike action as ‘a struggle for the soul of Amnesty.’
Messages of solidarity from Amnesty branches around the world were read out, as well as messages from other unions worldwide. The Beirut office announced they are striking in solidarity while a message from the Netherlands office recognized the ‘hard decision’ to strike given the disruption the strike will cause to staff’s human rights campaigning.
Restructure
Amnesty released an official statement in response to the strike saying, ‘We very much regret that staff has taken the decision to take industrial action, while fully respecting their right to do so.’ They went on to explain the reshuffle comes as part of structural changes to the NGO which will move work from the London HQ to ‘ten regional hubs around the world, located closer to where human rights violations occur, particularly in the Global South and East.’
‘We very much regret that staff has taken the decision to take industrial action, while fully respecting their right to do so.’
A spokesperson from Unite explained that it is not the proposed changes that those on strike object to but ‘the way in which it is being done.’
This is not the first time the NGO faced criticism for its management decisions. The organization previously came under fire in 2011 when it was revealed that a secret pay-off to former directors had cost the charity £800,000. The payments were supposedly made to former secretary general Irene Khan, who reportedly received £500,000, and her deputy Kate Gilmore.
Speaking to press at the time Peter Pack, chairman of Amnesty’s international executive committee, said: ‘The payments to outgoing secretary general Irene Khan shown in the accounts of AI (Amnesty International) Ltd for the year ending March 31 2010 include payments made as part of a confidential agreement between AI Ltd and Irene Khan. It is a term of this agreement that no further comment on it will be made by either party.’
0 comments:
Post a Comment