The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2014 61 AFSA NEWS AFSA Files MSI Implementation Dispute AFSA was disappointed to learn in May that the State Department had decided not to confer the monetary portion of Meritorious Service Increases on the 554 col- leagues who were recom- mended by last summer’s selection boards. We urged the depart- ment’s senior leadership to honor our colleagues’ per- formance with a monetary component in accordance with the negotiated proce- dural precepts. Since the department has opted not to do so, AFSA has filed an implementation dispute on behalf of the MSI recipients and the Service. For the last 34 years— since the Foreign Service Act of 1980—peer-constituted selection boards have rec- ognized outstanding perfor- mance and potential with recommendations for promo- tions and MSI conferrals. Over time this practice, including a monetary com- ponent, has become one of the terms and conditions of employment negotiated between State and AFSA in the form of the promotion procedural precepts. The State Department and AFSA have agreed to recog- nize colleagues who were rec- ommended by the selection board for promotion, but for whom there were no available promotion opportunities, with an MSI instead. At the time of the 2013 sequester, AFSA agreed to department-proposed language in the promotion procedural precepts requiring the department to pay the MSIs “if authorized.”AFSA understands that phrase to denote relevant provisions of law or any budgetary requirement imposed by the Office of Management and Budget/Office of Personnel Management; the department disagrees. State and AFSA had agreed to the procedural precepts following the Feb. 27, 2013, OMB guidance that lim- ited monetary awards across the federal government. In November 2013, OMB/ OPM issued new guidance that authorized the depart- ment to fund last summer’s MSIs, in addition to other awards. The department acknowl- edges that it has this author- ity, but has chosen not to apply it. State is the only foreign affairs agency that has not yet paid out its MSIs from 2013. The Foreign Service personnel system is up-or- out, with competitive promo- tions recommended by peer boards. The MSIs are part and parcel of this personnel system, and play a key role in those specialties in which promotion opportunities and career advancement are already limited. The majority of last sum- mer’s MSI recipients are spe- cialists, with the largest group being Diplomatic Security agents, followed by Informa- tion Resource Management specialists. The impact of an MSI, whether it is a financial step increase or cash payment, reaches beyond one’s active- duty career into retirement and the calculation of pension payments. While AFSA’s preference is to work together with management to address the challenges facing the Service, at times it must respectfully disagree and dissent. This is one of those times. AFSA has filed an implementation dis- pute on behalf of these 554 members, the merits of which will ultimately be decided by the Foreign Service Grievance Board, if not resolved at the agency level. Meanwhile, AFSA will continue to work with the department in other areas to make it a better, safer and more rewarding place to serve for all employees. Please email AFSA@state. gov with any questions or comments. n —Matthew Asada, AFSA State VP AFSAWelcomes TSA Pre-Check Expansion AFSA welcomes the State Department’s recent announce- ment about the expansion of Transportation Security Administration Pre-Check to employees with Top Secret clearances. Within three days of implementation, more than 3,800 department personnel had opted into the program. For the past several years, AFSA has advocated for mea- sures to make travel—domestic and overseas—easier for its members, including it in the Governing Board’s 2013-2015 strategic plan. AFSA continues to work with its partners an d the other foreign affairs agencies to expand employee par- ticipation in trusted traveler programs, such as the Customs and Border Protection’s “Global Entry” program. On Global Entry, we are advocating for what is known in industry speak as “risk-based screening,” which would enable automatic enrollment for those employees with security clearances, and have written to the CBP to that effect (see http://bit.ly/1ku7Jlo) . At the same time, we are seeking a revision to General Services Administration guidance on employee reimburse- ment for CBP Global Entry fees (see http://bit.ly/1jB9ng2 ). We have approached Department of State management on both of these items (see http://bit.ly/1lY9XWC ). For more on AFSA’s travel facilitation efforts, please see the March State VP column. —M.A.