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Ongoing collective bargaining negotiations include: reform of the assignments process at the Department of State;
limited career extensions for certain categories of career members of the Foreign Service whose time-in-class is due to
expire; fitness for duty standards for Iraq; permissibility of audio and visual recordings during Diplomatic Security inter-
views; ensuring that AFSA maintains its bargaining rights; mid-level hiring at the FS-2 level and Foreign Service-to-Civ-
il Service conversions at USAID; changes to assignment procedures for the Foreign Commercial Service; and an initial
framework agreement for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Apart from formal labor disputes, AFSA communicates regularly with management from the foreign affairs agencies on
a wide range of issues impacting the Foreign Service career. These include but are not limited to danger and hardship
pay; same sex domestic partner benefits; employee and eligible family member security clearance issues; lodging and
meals and incidental expenses; the reform of USAID’s Human Capital and Talent Management Office; and the creation
of temporary duty housing programs for Foreign Service officers with USAID and FCS.
On her first day as
AFSA president,
Ambassador Barbara
Stephenson takes the
oath of office in front
of other members of
the 2015-2017 AFSA
Governing Board.