The Foreign Service Journal, March 2008

MA R CH 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 53 A F S A N E W S Y E A R I N R E V I E W ing their first seven years of service. FCS management still had not responded to this proposal by year’s end. APRIL AFSA sponsors a town hall meeting at the State Department to give members a chance to hear from candidates running for positions on the newGoverning Board. AFSA also establishes online candidate forums to enable members to engage directly with the candi- dates. AFSA provides testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for hearings focused on foreign assistance effectiveness. AFSA continues a dialog with the International Board of Broadcasting on the precepts for promotion boards, successfully fending off an effort by the IBB director to subvert the authority of promotion boards mandated by the Foreign Service Act. AFSA/Labor Management writes one of sev- eral letters in 2007 to assist employees navigat- ing the rules for classification of an elderly parent as an Eligible Family Member. Pres. Holmes addresses audiences at UCLA and at World Affairs Councils in the Los Angeles area and Seattle concerning the chal- lenges confronting U.S. diplomacy. AFSA/Elderhostel inau- gurates a new week-long program on the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. Both the spring and fall versions of this program sell out quickly. AFSA informs membership about the Archuleta settlement (regarding lump sum payments for unused annual leave being adjusted for overseas COLA) and its implica- tions for retirees. FCS management sends AFSA “quick fix” proposals regarding performance forms and procedures. AFSA works with management and the proposals are adopted later in the year. AFSA/USAID participates in tenure board and pro- motion board debriefings and reporting sessions to protect employee interests. AFSA/USAID publishes a newmonthly newsletter, The Vanguard , to tem- porarily replace the agency’s canceled newsletter, Frontlines . The latter was eventually restarted, in part as a result of AFSA’s advocacy. AFSA/USAID convinces the agency to pur- chase a subscription to an online foreign lan- guage program, Rosetta Stone, previously unavailable to most employees. MAY The AFSA Memorial Plaque Ceremony takes place May 4 as part of Foreign Affairs Day. Under Secretary R. Nicholas Burns presides over the ceremo- ny, which includes a military honor guard. Three names were added to the plaques: Margaret Alexander, Doris G. Knittle and HenryW. Antheil Jr. Over 40 retirees repre- senting 10 states visit their congressional representatives during AFSA’s annual Day on the Hill. AFSA hosts a Foreign Affairs Day reception for retiree members. AFSA/State writes to Secretary Rice concern- ing the physical protective measures in place in Baghdad’s International Zone. AFSA Annual Report 2007 A Note on AFSA Operations E-mail is transforming the way AFSA interacts with 7th-floor principals and the director gen- eral’s office; with the key offices in Human Resources, Diplomatic Security and the Medical Division; with the front offices of the regional and functional bureaus at State and USAID; and with our far-flung membership worldwide. Where once AFSA raised specific matters of concern only by formal letters addressed to the State Department or other foreign affairs agency, now we conduct an ongoing dialog by e-mail, occasionally supplemented by letters or meetings, with key interlocutors in virtually every bureau on the issues of concern to our members. AFSA’s ongoing electronic dialog with senior officials is in many ways a new form of labor- management negotiation. Over the past year, this interaction has addressed dozens of differ- ent subjects and brought about changes in policies and procedures at the State Department in a wide range of areas, including the promotion precepts, the Foreign Service assignment sys- tem, concerns over assignments to Iraq and other unaccompanied posts, family member employment overseas, Member of Household status, allowances, medical clearance concerns, maternity benefits overseas, contact reporting requirements, fitness for duty exams for DS agents, technology in the workplace, handling of pets in overseas transfers and training issues. In addition, during the course of this year, the AFSA president, vice presidents and profession- al staff have fielded requests from hundreds of FS members, assisting themwith individual problems. The AFSA/Labor Management office represented members in hundreds of grievances, disciplinary cases, DS investigations and security clearance cases, and fielded over a thousand requests for information or advice on a wide variety of issues. Throughout the year, the AFSA president and State vice president, accompanied by AFSA/Labor Management staff, have met biweekly with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Heather Hodges. Topics discussed over the year included the whole gamut of HR issues, including pay modernization, assignments (including special arrangements for Iraq), promotion precepts, position classification, security clearances and regulations, and individual cases. Regular meetings have also been held with then-Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Greg Starr and senior DS staff to discuss personnel security in Iraq, contact reporting regulations and DS investigative procedures, among other issues. The Year in Review presented here, therefore, gives only a sampling of AFSA’s activities and accomplishments in 2007.