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MSIs to 5% (rather than 10%) of employees ranked but
not reached for promotion. AFSA filed an appeal, which
was successful, with the FSLRB. On December 5, the
FSLRB remanded the case back to the Grievance Board.
We expect a final decision sometime in early to mid-
2017. The parties agreed to hold the 2015 MSI dispute in
abeyance pending a final decision in the 2014 case and
the 2016 MSI case currently is pending with the Depart-
ment. The labor-management office also filed an Unfair
Labor Practice against the Department for unilateral
changes made to the polygraph regulations found in 12
FAM. The ULP is currently at the investigatory phase.
AFSA filed a negotiability appeal when USAID refused to
bargain over its proposal to hire 20 non-Foreign Service
employees at the mid-level. The appeal was settled
when USAID agreed to withdraw its proposal. AFSA
currently has an implementation dispute pending before
the Foreign Agricultural Service regarding its implemen-
tation of the Agricultural Trade Office assignment policy.
AFSA recently settled a dispute with Foreign Commercial
Service regarding its unilateral decision to end a policy
of permitting FCS employees to attend the retirement
seminars and job search program at FSI. Finally, we are
close to signing a collective bargaining agreement with
APHIS that will govern our labor management relation-
ship. Please see State Vice President Angie Bryan’s
report on page 7, which provides additional detail on
labor-management issues in 2016.
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