(AFP) – The International Labour Organization, the UN’s labour agency, has scrapped the appointment of Trump administration official Sheng Li as its deputy director-general over Washington’s failure to pay its dues. The agency’s director-general Gilbert Houngbo “has decided to rescind the appointment of the deputy director-general, considering continued delays in the payment of arrears,” the ILO said in a statement. “Mr. Sheng Li (United States of America) will therefore not assume the position of deputy director-general in July as previously foreseen.”
Li is a high-level official at the US Department of Labor. His appointment to the Geneva-based ILO was announced in April. As of June 1, the United States had accumulated arrears of more than 173 million Swiss francs ($220 million) in ILO membership contributions for the past two years, according to data on the agency’s website. Washington must also pay its 2026 dues, amounting to nearly 84 million Swiss francs.
The United States is not the only country behind on its payments to the ILO. The decision to drop Li “is without prejudice to the possibility of the United States settling its arrears and thereby regaining its position as the largest contributor in assessed contributions.” The ILO remains in constructive dialogue with the US government on this matter,” the statement said.
The ILO had been without a deputy chief since last September, when Celeste Drake — also a US national — left. The ILO’s deputy director post is usually held by an American, but the agency’s staff union raised questions about following that tradition at a time when Washington — traditionally the agency’s biggest donor — had failed to pay its dues.
Like other United Nations agencies, the ILO is currently facing significant financial pressure and is undergoing major reforms as it strives to tighten its budget. Reform plans that still need to be validated call for the slashing of around 120 positions by 2029 — a number that could be expanded by several hundred more if further savings are required, ILO documents show. The ILO has 3,454 staff members, including 1,175 at its headquarters in Geneva and 2,279 in its offices worldwide, according to figures from December.
© 2024 AFP
