The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2011

J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 7 ship would have done is reject the raise when it was only for them, and work to win it for all Foreign Service personnel. Yes, the lower-graded folks have now received two-thirds of that increase in pay. But it is still unacceptable that the leadership receives the full amount while non-SFS personnel do not. Like- wise, it is unjust that colleagues from other agencies, alongside whom we all serve, receive the full Washington, D.C., locality pay while non-Senior For- eign Service staff do not. I’ve been with State for more than 15 years now and, to tell the truth, never felt like we deservedWashington, D.C., locality pay while serving overseas. (I have never served in Washington, and never received locality pay there.) After all, we’re not in Washington and we do have our housing costs paid. And while I disliked the fact that overseas employees of other federal agencies have been receiving locality pay for years now, I always felt appro- priately compensated for my work — right up until themoment our senior of- ficers took the increase for themselves, leaving the rest of us behind. Since then, I’ve lost a tremendous amount of respect for those who lead us. As Under Secretary for Manage- ment Patrick Kennedy noted in an April 15 department notice on this topic, this is an issue of equity. So it is time for Secretary of State Hillary Rod- ham Clinton to insist on an equitable solution. In this fiscal climate it is virtually certain that Congress would support the approach I’ve proposed above. I hope it receives serious attention and AFSA supports it. Thomas Schmitz Financial Management Officer Embassy Quito L E T T E R S