1. This is a united Action Message – see para. 11 - from AFSA President Susan Johnson and all of the AFSA Agency Vice Presidents. It is directed to all AFSA members and other interested Foreign Service members at post. Please ensure the widest possible distribution.
2. This message discusses the current threat to Overseas Comparability Pay (OCP) and repeats much of the information recently distributed directly to AFSA Post Representatives. We are aware that, as we conclude the summer transfer season, many AFSA post reps have moved on. In order to reach all employees potentially affected by the loss of OCP, we have decided to repeat via ALDAC the substance of the recent message to AFSA Post Reps. Please note that this is a joint message, sent with the concurrence of your AFSA Agency Vice Presidents. Now more than ever, AFSA is and must be united. We direct each of you to AFSA’s website (www.afsa.org) for constantly updated OCP information under: Policy & Legislation – Issues – AFSA Priority Issues – Overseas Comparability Pay (http://www.afsa.org/PolicyandLegislation/Issues/OCP.aspx).
3. Some of you may have seen the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on OCP. You may find the report at: http://www.afsa.org/recent_testimony.aspx. Scroll down the page to GAO reports and look for the 6/30/11 report. We regard the report as flawed and unhelpful. While it has made our job more difficult, it could have been worse – it did not specifically recommend withdrawal of OCP. AFSA remains fully committed to defending the principle of OCP for all Foreign Service personnel when assigned overseas and to protecting the 16% we currently have.
4. AFSA anticipates the State Department to be the lead agency on behalf of the entire Foreign Service, and presumes the Department will coordinate and engage with senior management of other affected agencies. We recently met with State Department leadership to ask about the Department’s strategy to save OCP. We were assured that senior leadership firmly supports OCP for all FS employees and is pursuing a behind-the-scenes approach to ensure that at a minimum OCP remains at the current level. While some might prefer a higher profile approach, it could increase the risk of losing OCP by making it a more visible target. In any event, the final decision on the State Department’s approach rests with the Secretary.
5. We were assured that Secretary Clinton remains engaged on this subject, and that she is making the case for the resources needed for effective U.S. diplomacy and development. Many of you may have seen the transcript of her recent joint appearance with Secretary of Defense Panetta at the National Defense University, in which she made a spirited case for the Foreign Affairs budget. We look forward to more support from the Secretary, and will stay engaged with the Department on this and other issues.
6. We are receiving and reading carefully ideas from our members about protecting the OCP we have. We welcome and review carefully member ideas and expressions of concern, but have incorporated many but not all of them into our strategy. Some of the suggestions we have received are, however, unrealistic such as the proposal that we advocate for lowering that other agencies’ salary schedules. Others reflect an incomplete understanding about OCP (It is not related to COLA or based on cost of living, but rather on cost of similarly qualified labor).
7. Some of our members have suggested that the salary scale for Senior Foreign Service members be modified in order to introduce greater parity, and free up funds for OCP for non-Seniors. The fact is that legislation enacted in 2003 definitively changed the pay scales for the Senior Executive Service throughout government – and the Senior Foreign Service was wrapped up in that legislation. To argue for a change in that legislation would be, we believe, counter-productive. It would undermine our position that no Foreign Service personnel, when assigned overseas, should take a pay cut through the loss of Washington locality pay. We have received another suggestion that we bargain for universal application of the lowest current locality rate. Advocacy for a lower rate only weakens the AFSA and State Department position that the Washington DC rate should apply to the entire Foreign Service.
8. Any successful strategy to preserve OCP must be based on arguments for fair and universal government-wide application of the principles underlying comparability pay, and not on any modifications that would retain a separate and less favorable status for the Foreign Service.
9. We do read the mail and carefully consider and respond to members’ suggestions, including those received as a result of the recent message to AFSA post reps. So do keep the ideas coming. Please be assured that AFSA is working hard to preserve OCP, and to prevent an unfair, undeserved, and counter-productive pay cut for hard-working FS people serving their country in difficult and frequently dangerous conditions overseas.
10. In closing, we underscore our belief that unity is our biggest ally in this struggle. We do not like to see our Seniors, whose salary scales were set by Congress in 2003, depicted as insensitive to the precarious situation of entry and mid-level personnel. At the same time, we fully expect these Seniors to be engaged in advocacy to save OCP for their subordinates. This is a battle for all of us, regardless of rank.
11. ACTION REQUESTS: (1) For those posts with active AFSA reps who have not already taken action: Reps, please engage your fellow AFSA members, and discuss these issues, either at a town hall meeting, or informally. Please ensure that we have current contact information for you by sending an e-mail, identifying yourself as post rep, to: member@afsa.org (2) If your post does not have an AFSA rep, please consider stepping up to the plate at this critical time. We need and welcome a diverse corps of post reps drawn from all our member agencies. Questions about becoming an AFSA rep (and about the guidance/support you will receive from us if you take on this important role.) can be directed to member@afsa.org and our Chief Labor Management Specialist James Yorke at yorkej@state.gov (3) Share with your elected representatives in Congress your thoughts on OCP and the likely effect of its loss on diplomatic readiness. Instructions on how to contact your congressional representative are available on the AFSA website at http://www.afsa.org/action_center.aspx. (4) Send AFSA President Susan Johnson and/or your VP your feedback, with cc’s to AFSA staff: Ed Dickens, AFSA Policy Director at Dickens@afsa.org and Janet Weber, AFSA Labor Management Counselor at WeberJ2@state.gov.
12. Let’s stay on message and together, as we continue to confront this challenge.
This cable has been signed by:
Susan R. Johnson, President, American Foreign Service Association
Keith Curtis, AFSA Vice President, Foreign Commercial Service
Andre DeNesnera, AFSA Representative, International Broadcasting Bureau
Daniel Hirsch, AFSA Vice President, Department of State
David Mergen, AFSA Vice President, Foreign Agricultural Service
Francisco Zamora, AFSA Vice President, U.S. Agency for International Development