The Foreign Service Journal, April 2013

the Foreign Service journal | April 2013 27 Editor’s Note: We invited past presidents of the American Foreign Service Association to reflect on AFSA’s 40th anniversary as a union. Thanks to all who responded. focus AFSA Celebrates 40 Years as a Union Past AFSA Presidents SpeaK out The state of the union Never Again By Thomas D. Boyatt W hen I was invited to contribute a few thoughts to this issue on the 40th anniversary of AFSA’s cer- tification as exclusive employee representative at State and the other foreign affairs agencies, my first reaction was, “We just did that.” Actually, we did that 10 years ago, when we celebrated the 30th anniversary of our election victories. The Foreign Service Journal ’s coverage of that milestone in its June 2003 issue describes with verve, accuracy, color and context what really happened to AFSA and the Foreign Service during that tumultuous decade (1970-1980). The articles, all available on AFSA’s Web site at www.afsa.org/FSJ/0603/ index.html, are well worth a (re)read. Veterans of that era will enjoy the opportunity to relive and reflect on those heady days, while more recent FSOs will gain an appreciation of where we are today and how we got here.