The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2015

52 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA’s Shower Diplomacy On Oct. 8 AFSA and the State Department’s Bureaus of Administration and Human Resources celebrated the opening of two new shower rooms in State Annex 3, on Virginia Avenue N.W. Deputy Assistant Sec- retary for Operations Keith Miller, Deputy Assistant Sec- retary for Human Resources Marcia Bernicat, Division Chief of the Bureau of Human Resources Work Life Division Judy Ikels and AFSA State Vice President Matthew Asada each spoke briefly on the origins of the shower project and the importance of employee wellness initia- tives. They were joined at the ceremony by Project Man- ager Matthew Lindstrom of the Oce of Real Property Management. The idea for an SA-3 shower originated more than two years ago during an after-work conversa- tion between Asada and Adam Bodner, director of the Oce of Real Property Management at Main State’s own shower facilities. They questioned whether it would be possible to get a similar facility in SA-3 to support the department’s wellness initia- tives and encourage exercise to, from or at the workplace. The SA-3 shower project is an excellent example of AFSA’s commitment to mak- ing the department one of the premier employers within the federal government. AFSA is a strong sup- porter of this and other department wellness initia- tives and included a quality of work/life goal in its 2013- 2015 Strategic Plan (www.bit. ly/AFSAplan). AFSA has called on the department to ensure that Deputy Assistant Secretary Keith Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary Marcia Bernicat, Division Chief Judy Ikels, AFSA State Vice President Matthew Asada and Project Manager Matthew Lindstrom inaugurating the new SA-3 shower facility. AFSA/DANIELTHWAITES AFSA President and State VP Present Midterm Review at FSI On Oct. 22, AFSA President Robert Silverman and State VP Matthew Asada hosted a “Midterm Review” lunch at the Foreign Service Institute. As they had done in a sim- ilar outreach event at AFSA headquarters in August, the AFSA ocials presented an overview of the association’s advocacy, engagement and communication eorts to active-duty State members currently at FSI. They highlighted progress made on AFSA’s 2013-2015 strategic plan and FSI- specific successes, such as the launch of the Capitol BikeShare station (see Sep- tember 2014 AFSA News). During the question-and- answer session that followed, members raised concerns on FSI training, child care and IT skills-incentive pay. Silverman and Asada encouraged members to get involved with their union and professional association by joining an AFSA committee, becoming a post representa- tive, or standing for election. A video of the event is avail- able at www.afsa.org/video. AFSA held another outreach meeting on Nov. 25 at Main State, and has scheduled a similar event on Jan. 20 with active-duty Diplomatic Security special- ists at Diplomatic Security headquarters (SA-20). n —Lindsey Botts, Labor Management Executive Assistant there is at least one free shower facility in every annex. SA-3’s new shower facility is the latest down payment on that pledge and joins 12 other department annexes with free showers. The ceremony was the first in a series of AFSA events supporting the department’s Work-Life Wellness Month. AFSA also organized an after-work run and a panel discussion on managing after-hours email (see p. 50). AFSA is also contributing to the department’s response to the White House’s June 23 memo (www.bit.ly/ WorkLifememo) on improv- ing work-life wellness across the federal government. n —Daniel Thwaites, Labor Management Intern