The Foreign Service Journal, March 2010

MA R CH 2 0 1 0 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 51 AFSA Annual Report 2009 Y E A R I N R E V I E W I n 2009, the AFSA Labor Management office provided timely guidance, assis- tance and representationona vast array of employment and retirement-related issues to literally thousands of our State, USAID, Commerce, Agriculture, IBB and retiree members. AFSA scored an important victory in June, when the Foreign Service Grievance Board found that the Department of State hadviolated theForeignAffairsManual by failing to consider 68 recently promoted members of the Senior Foreign Service for performance pay in 2007. The FSGB ordered State to convene performance review boards to determine whether the grievants would have been awarded per- formance pay had they been properly reviewed. The department will review all SFSmembers who shouldhave been eligi- ble forperformancepay(not just the68par- ties to the grievance) for the years 2007 and 2008. Another success came inApril,whenthe Grievance Board found that the Foreign Agricultural Servicehadassigned threeCivil Service employees abroadwithout proper- ly advertising theposition toFS employees, inviolationof theAFSA/FAScollectivebar- gaining agreement. FAS appealed the rul- ing to the Foreign Service Labor Relations Board. InDecember, theFSLRBdeniedthe appeal and upheld the Grievance Board’s decision. In addition to these far-reaching cases, AFSA assisted hundreds of employees with grievances over false and prejudicial evaluations, denial of tenureor promotion, lowrankingandreferral tothePerformance StandardsBoard; disciplinary actions rang- ing fromreprimands andsuspensionswith- out pay to separation for cause; entry-level salaries, skill code changes, allowances, Rehabilitation Act violations and many other issues. Two significant victories involved the Foreign Commercial Service. In one case, theGrievanceBoardorderedFCS topayan employee a Residence Transaction Allow- ance covering closing costs and fees that could amount to as much as $25,000. In another case, theboardorderedFCS to issue a language incentivepayment that thegriev- antwas entitled to for servicebetween2001 and 2004. The employee received a check for more than $25,000. In another important development, AFSA’s Legal Defense Fund provided $5,000 toanFCS employee for retentionof aprivateattorney(anexpertinsecurityclear- ances) in an appeal of the revocationof his security clearance. The Office of Security alleged that the employeehadmade incon- sistent statements to Commerce Depart- ment security agents during several inter- views yet denied the employee access to the agents’ reports of those interviews, thus deprivinghimofdueprocess. Atpress time, a decision had not been made. LaborManagement attorneys andother professional staff also assisted hundreds of memberswithassignment issues, including appealing Diplomatic Security Bureau assignment restrictions; security andcyber- securityinfractionsandviolations;DS,Office of the InspectorGeneral andOfficeofCivil Rights investigations, including the inves- tigationof scoresofFSemployees for alleged Passport Information Electronic Records System violations; congressional staff in- quiries; and many other issues, including credit for prior military service, in-state tuitionratesforchildrenofFSmembers,lan- guage incentive pay, R&R, allowances and reimbursement of medical expenses. We were handed a favorable ruling for twoDS candidates facing expulsion, after our attorneys traveled to the Federal Law EnforcementTrainingCenter inGeorgia to represent them. Inadditiontoourrepresentationofindi- vidual employees,AFSAnegotiatedor con- sulted with the Department of State on a wide varietyof issues, including caps on the number of linked onward assignments at 170 for employees volunteering for Iraqand Afghanistan in 2010; basic special agent coursetrainingrequirementsandfitness-for- duty examination regulations for DS agents; new foreign contact reporting and intent-to-marry regulations extending cer- tainbenefitstodomesticpartners;andannu- al promotion precepts. —Sharon Papp, General Counsel Member Services: Reaching Out in 2009 A FSAwelcomed1,193newmembers in 2009. Twenty-seven of those invested intheassociationas lifetime members, and an additional 32 existing membersconvertedtolifetimemembership. AFSA continues its tradition of wel- coming incomingofficers and specialists to lunch to inform them of the benefits of membership, and the association’s history, achievements and goals. In 2009, AFSA hosted1,326 students in18A-100, special- ist andDevelopment Leadership Initiative classes. Additionally, AFSA hosted three hail-and-farewell receptions for employees participating in the retirement seminars at FSI. More than 1,900 members participat- ed in AFSA’s six insurance plans in 2009. — Janet Hedrick, Director, Member Services Labor Management: Steady Representation and Far-Reaching Victories