The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2023

32 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL In that same era, citing large staffing gaps in mid-level positions, the Director General’s office asked AFSA to agree to administratively promote all FS-4s instead of having them individually compete for promotion. AFSA refused, saying that even if the selection board promoted almost all of them, it could still hold back those not ready for greater responsibilities—that is, those whose promotion would be a disservice to them and to colleagues whom they would then supervise. A significant difference between AFSA and Civil Service unions is that those unions do not represent supervisors. But thanks to the unique employee-management system negoti- ated by Ambassador (ret.) Tom Boyatt and others in the early 1970s, AFSA represents the entire Foreign Service worldwide, including supervisors and every cone, backstop, specialty, and rank with limited exceptions such as colleagues in ambassa- dorial and assistant secretary positions. In addition, many of the senior leaders whom AFSA does not legally represent are nevertheless AFSA members in its capacity as a professional association. Combined with the fact that more than 80 percent of Foreign Service members voluntarily pay AFSA dues (Civil Service unions average 30 percent), it means that AFSA truly is the “voice of the Foreign Service”—and thus carries added authority and influence with agency management, Congress, and the media. Another difference between AFSA and Civil Service unions is that a higher percentage of retirees retain their membership after leaving active duty. Retiree dues not only fund advocacy on their behalf, but also advocacy for active-duty members still in harm’s way. In addition, retirees are major contributors to the AFSA Political Action Committee and Legal Defense Fund. A dozen retirees who are former AFSA presidents meet from time to time with the current president to share their experi- ences and insights. Other AFSA Strengths As AFSA marks the semicentennial of becoming a union, it is useful to catalogue its other strengths. These strengths may prove critical in the future if political leaders again seek to cripple federal unions and deprofessionalize the career federal services. AFSA has a strong professional staff. With just six employees when AFSA first became a union, it soon thereafter hired its first staff attorney followed by its first congressional lobbyist. Today, the staff totals 39, including seven attorneys. Eight have been with AFSA for more than 20 years, applying their deep experi- ence to advancing member interests. AFSA’s Foreign Service Journal has been a forum for news, history, discussion, and debate about issues related to diplo- macy and the Foreign Service since 1924. It presents diplo- matic history through the lens of the practitioner with open access online for those inside and outside the Foreign Service. The Journal added its AFSA News section in 1968, providing a unique space for AFSA to track and share union activities and concerns. Financial strength is another important asset. Over the past two decades, AFSA steadily amassed a “rainy day” reserve fund that now exceeds $3 million. Those resources are available to be drawn on if needed to wage legal or media battles to pro- tect career diplomacy. The hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to AFSA’s Legal Defense Fund to pay attorney bills of impeachment witnesses show that additional funds can be raised in times of peril. Finally, AFSA’s 21-member Governing Board is another strength. Its members are popularly elected by the entire Foreign Service. The board includes representatives of all six foreign affairs agencies. Boards typically include FSOs and FS special- ists, a variety of cones and grade levels, and retirees, as well as having gender and racial diversity. That diversity, of course, depends on who runs for office and whom the voters elect. So, each election cycle, AFSA members have the ability and oppor- tunity to increase that variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The Next 50 Years Asked in 1787 what kind of government the Constitutional Convention had adopted, Benjamin Franklin replied, “A republic if you can keep it.” That same note of caution applies to AFSA as a union. Current and future AFSA Governing Boards must not shy away from utilizing the union rights their predecessors won for them. And they must vigorously defend those rights should they be threatened. n AFSA’s status as a union allowed it to pay more than $485,000 in legal bills for Foreign Service members subpoenaed to testify in the Trump impeachment hearings.