Article VIII
(a) The Secretary-General shall establish and maintain continuous contact and communication with the staff in order to ensure the effective participation of the staff in identifying, examining and resolving issues relating to staff welfare, including conditions of work, general conditions of life and other human resources policies;
(b) Staff representative bodies shall be established and shall be entitled to initiate proposals to the Secretary-General for the purpose set forth in paragraph (a) above. They shall be organized in such a way as to afford equitable representation to all staff members, by means of elections that shall take place at least biennially under electoral regulations drawn up by the respective staff representative body and agreed to by the Secretary-General.
The Secretary-General shall establish joint staff-management machinery at both local and Secretariat-wide levels to advise him or her regarding human resources policies and general questions of staff welfare as provided in regulation 8.1.
Chapter VIII
Staff representative bodies and staff representatives
Definitions
(a) The term staff representative bodies , as used in the present chapter of the Staff Rules, shall be deemed to include staff associations, unions or other corresponding staff representative bodies established in accordance with staff regulation 8.1 (b).
(b) Staff representative bodies may be established for a duty station or for a group of duty stations. Staff members serving in duty stations where no staff representative body exists may seek representation through a staff representative body at another duty station.
(c) Each member of the staff may participate in elections to a staff representative body, and all staff serving at a duty station where a staff representative body exists shall be eligible for election to it, subject to any exceptions as may be provided in the statutes or electoral regulations drawn up by the staff representative body concerned and meeting the requirements of staff regulation 8.1 (b).
(d) Polling officers selected by the staff shall conduct the election of the members of each staff representative body, on the basis of the electoral regulations of the staff representative body concerned, in such a way as to ensure the complete secrecy and fairness of the vote. The polling officers shall also conduct other elections of staff members as required by the Staff Regulations and Rules.
(e) No staff member shall threaten, retaliate against or attempt to retaliate against any staff representatives exercising their functions under the present chapter.
(f) The staff representative bodies shall be entitled to effective participation, through their duly elected executive committees, in identifying, examining and resolving issues relating to staff welfare, including conditions of work, general conditions of life and other human resources policies, and shall be entitled to make proposals to the Secretary-General on behalf of the staff.
(g) In accordance with the principle of freedom of association, staff members may form and join associations, unions or other groupings. However, formal contact and communication on the matters referred to in paragraph (f) above shall be conducted at each duty station through the executive committee of the staff representative body, which shall be the sole and exclusive representative body for such purpose.
(h) General administrative instructions or directives on questions within the scope of paragraph (f) above shall be transmitted in advance, unless emergency situations make it impracticable, to the executive committees of the staff representative bodies concerned for consideration and comment before being placed in effect.
Joint staff-management machinery
(a) The joint staff-management machinery provided for in staff regulation 8.2 shall consist of:
(i) Joint advisory committees or corresponding staff-management bodies, at designated duty stations, normally composed of not fewer than three and not more than seven staff representatives and an equal number of representatives of the Secretary-General;
(ii) A Secretariat-wide joint staff-management body composed of equal numbers of representatives of the staff and representatives of the Secretary-General.
(b) The President of the joint staff-management bodies referred to in paragraph (a) above shall be selected by the Secretary-General from a list proposed by the staff representatives.
(c) Instructions or directives embodying recommendations made by the bodies referred to in paragraph (a) above shall be regarded as having satisfied the requirements of staff rule 8.1 (f) and (h).
(d) The joint staff-management bodies referred to in paragraph (a) above shall establish their own rules and procedures.
(e) The Secretary-General shall designate secretaries of the joint staff-management bodies referred to in paragraph (a) above and shall arrange for such services as may be necessary for their proper functioning.