UNITED NATIONS, May 4 -- With the diplomacy for which the United Nations is known, its food service workers in New York were abruptly told Monday that layoffs begin on August 2. The UN headquarters is scheduled to be emptied and repaired, by a contractor Skanska being sued for asbestos, and its cafeteria is to be cut in two, consolidated with the more upscale Delegates' Dining Room.
One worker, staring at the day's offerings of chicken legs and corn, complained to Inner City Press that while "Obama is trying to save jobs, Ban Ki-moon is eliminating them."
The notice was by the UN's contractor Aramark. Its cleaning contractor has not given similar notices, as there will still be a need to clear the UN's so-called swing spaces on Madison Avenue and 47th Street and Second Avenue and 42nd and 46th Streets.
As Inner City Press has reported, the move is called into question by the Department of Safety and Security's failure to produce risk assessments for the swing space locations. Capital Master Plan chief Michael Adlerstein is now said to be blaming the head of the UN's New York security for not preparing the plans.
Adlerstein will hold a meeting with staff on May 7, but the contractors being unceremoniously told of lay-offs are not expected to be invited.
Footnotes: The UN's pandemic expert David Nabarro, in an uncharacteristically testy press conference on Monday, refused to state whether any UN staff have tested positive to swine or H1N1 flu. Inner City Press asked him to comment on irregularities in "pharmaceutical controls," including with regard to Tamiflu as well as Daizepam, in the UN Medical Service, but he declined.
The stated purpose of his briefing was so Ban Ki-moon won't be answered flu-related questions at his May 5 press conference. But now that seemed inevitable.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1foodswine050409.html
