The Foreign Service Journal, March 2009

62 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / MA R CH 2 0 0 9 A F S A N E W S AFSA Annual Report 2008 C O N S T I T U E N C Y S U M M A R I E S International Broadcasting Bureau: Agreements Reached A fter protracted negotiations, AFSA reached agreement with the agency on how tomake permanent the time in class/time in service freeze for current Voice of America FS Class 1 correspon- dents. The freeze was put in place about 10 years ago to ensure that FP-1 corre- spondents were not TIC-ed out en masse for lack of promotion opportunities. The new regulations will ensure that no corre- spondents “who were tenured career members of the Foreign Service as of October 1, 2006” will be separated due to TIC or TIS. As of January 2009, we believe all issues and language have been settledandwe hope to sign theMOAchanges very soon. The pack- age also includes some other changes to the evaluation and pro- motion process. As those negotiations draw to a close, we are attempting to start adiscussionwith IBBon some other FS cor- respondent issues, including the lackof pro- motions to the Senior Foreign Service for many years and the grade classifications of our positions. During the past year, we have not had any issues regarding our Foreign Service technicians, other than some indi- vidual concerns. In December, AFSA President John Naland and I, alongwith representatives of other IBB unions, met with the IBB tran- sition team co-leader, and longtime VOA/IBBofficial,WoodyDemitz, toput our concerns on themap as the new administration prepared to take office. If anyone in the IBB AFSA bargaining unit has any questions or concerns, individual or broad, please feel free to contact me at apessin@voanews.com. —Al Pessin, IBB Representative The new regulations will ensure that no correspondents “who were tenured career members of the Foreign Service as of October 1, 2006” will be separated due to TIC or TIS. A FSA Retiree Coordinator Bonnie Brown provided assistance to retiree members on more than 350 retiree benefits issues in 2008. Although members had a broad range of issues, they most fre- quently had concerns about FEHBP benefits, annuities, Medicare B andWAE employment. On the legislative and regulatory side, there was no movement in Congress on the Windfall EliminationProvision and Premium Conversion legislation. There were, however, some failed efforts to alter FEHBP benefits that, working with other retiree associ- ations, AFSA tracked and brought to the attention of its mem- bers. We formed a Retiree Task Force, composed of Hank Cohen, Janice Bay and David Passage and staff members Janet Hedrick, James Yorke and Bonnie Brown, working under my leadership to increase retiree membership. Retirees need an organization like AFSA to “watch our collective backs” and monitor threats to federal benefits in times of financial crisis. The Task Force is also working to develop legislation to facil- itate more extensive re-employment of annuitants to carry out assignments critical to the department. AFSA President JohnNaland travelled to Florida, Texas, NorthCarolina andCalifornia to meet with Foreign Service retiree associ- ation members and give interviews to local media outlets. AFSA co-sponsored three Job Transition Seminar receptions for retirees with DACOR at theForeignService Institute in2008. AFSApresenteda lunchtime programduring the seminar, where retireeswere given the oppor- tunity to ask questions about retirement benefits. In Foreign Service Journal retiree columns and the Retiree Newsletter , Bonnie Brown and I wrote about many of the com- plex issues facing retirees and those approaching retirement. In the future we intend to focus more andmore on informing and preparing active-duty members for a smooth retirement. Toward that end, the Retiree Newsletter is now being sent elec- tronically to all members 55 and older. — Bill Farrand, Retiree VP In the future we intend to focus more and more on informing and preparing active-duty members for a smooth retirement. Retirees: Assistance on a Host of Issues