The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017 55 AFSA NEWS Voting Ballots will be distributed on or about April 17, 2017, to each individual who is a regular AFSA member as of March 17, 2017. Candidates or their representatives may observe the ballot distribu- tion process if they so desire. Each member may cast one vote for president, secretary and treasurer, as well as one vote for a constituency vice president and each represen- tative position in the mem- ber’s constituency. Regular members may cast their votes for candi- dates listed on the official ballot, or by writing in the name(s) of member(s) eli- gible as of March 17, 2017, or by doing both. To be valid, a ballot must be received by 8 a.m. on June 8, 2017, either (i) at the address indicated on the envelope accompany- ing the ballot or (ii) by online vote. More detailed balloting instructions will accompany the ballots. Vote Counting and Announcement of Results On or about June 8, 2017, the Elections Committee will oversee the ballot tabula- tion and declare elected the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for each position. Candidates or their representatives may be present during the tally and may challenge the validity of any vote or the eligibility of any voter. The commit- tee will inform candidates individually of the election AMore In-Depth Look at the New MSI Process A State Department cable, released on De c. 7, announced the new process for awarding Meritorious Service Increase(s). The three-year pilot program is the result of formal negotiations initiated by the State Department with AFSA, during which we considered the feedback many members submitted in September. In addition to the details outlined in the cable, we’d like to highlight for our members a few successes from the negotiations: First and foremost, the department will no longer be able to claim that it has the right to make unilateral deci- sions not to pay MSIs. The precepts make crystal clear that the department must pay MSIs at the percentage negotiated with AFSA. We successfully included a provision in the new MSI system stating that, in the event of a severe budget crisis, the department must come back to AFSA and renegotiate any proposed decrease in the percentage of awards. If AFSA and the depart- ment cannot agree on a new percentage for that specific year, then the matter will be resolved by the Foreign Service Impasse Disputes Panel. Bidding privileges remain intact for the top group of employees who are recom- mended but not reached for promotion. That guarantee is now enshrined in the new agreement. The new system is estab- lished as a pilot program with the department and AFSA working together to make improvements to the system and fix any unin- tended negative conse- quences. This provision was important to AFSA leader- ship because we recognize that any wholesale change to a system affecting the entire Foreign Service will assuredly present a range of challenges, not all of which we can possibly anticipate. Throughout the negotia- tions, one of AFSA’s goals was to ensure the integrity of the rank order process used by the promotion boards. We are delighted to report that we achieved this goal. MSIs will be divided between officers and spe- cialists at roughly the same ratio found within the For- eign Service. For the most part, specialists will review specialist nominations and officers will review officer nominations. People temporarily removed for low-rankings and/or discipline cases will be allowed to receive ret- roactive MSIs if their cases are successfully overturned, even years down the road. If you are interested in more comprehensive details, we encourage you to read the new MSI Precepts once they are published. n —Angie Bryan, State Vice President Call for Nominationst Continued from page 54 results by the swiftest pos- sible means and will publish the names of all elected can- didates in the next issue of The Foreign Service Journal . The elected candidates will take office on July 15, 2017, as per the bylaws. The Committee on Elec- tions and supporting staff members may be reached at election@afsa.org . n —The Committee on Elections