The Foreign Service Journal, September 2006

70 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / S E P T EMB E R 2 0 0 6 A F S A N E W S June 27, 2006 Ambassador George M. Staples Director General of the Foreign Service U.S. Department of State Dear Ambassador Staples: AFSA remains committed toworkingwith you and your team to transformthe Foreign Service tomeet the needs of the 21st cen- tury, to devise creative “outside-the-box” solutions to problems, and to develop sensible changes in personnel policies, procedures, and regulations that would benefit our colleagues worldwide. We sharewith you the objective ofmaking the Foreign Service a career that attracts and retains the very best people to represent our coun- try overseas. Doing so requires us to address the fairness and equity concerns of our members, to attend to the needs of fam- ilies, and to implement effective incentives for hardship service in an increasingly difficult and dangerous world. We need a Foreign Service that bends over backward to take care of its employees. Too often, ourmembers feel as if anunsym- pathetic bureaucracy is looking to chip away at their overseas allowances, is ready to strip them of their security clearances on the slightest pretext, and is generally unforgiving and regulation- bound when unique situations arise. You asked that AFSA provide youwith the priority “wish list” of the most important or most pressing action items which our members have raisedwith us. The list that follows is distilled from the hundreds of comments that we receive frommembers around the world every week, as well as from the extensive responses to our surveys. OpenAssignment rules: The Department needs to follow its own rules inmaking assignment decisions. Members are deeply frustrated by a system in which bureaus routinely reserve choice jobs for insider candidates, excluding those who may be quali- fied but are not personally “known” to the bureau. Some prime examples of unfair practices that you can put a stop to are: Giving “half-handshakes” to below-grade bidders AssigningCivil Service candidates when good FS candidates are available Using directed assignments to overcome Fair Share requirements Asserting “unique personal qualifications” to give jobs to special candidates Iraq PRTs: Our members continue to express deep reserva- tions about service in the red-zone PRTs, partly because of the dangerous conditions — which many believe exceed what unarmedFSOs shouldbe expected to endure—andpartly because of concerns about the inability to do the job they would be sent to do. Because we know that greater openness and more infor- mation are in everyone’s interest, we urge you to persuade NEA, S/I and DS to work forthrightly with HR and AFSA to: Give the membership an honest accounting of conditions at PRTs Address security concerns Develop further incentives to encourage volunteers and pre- vent directed assignments Overseasemploymentofspouses/partners: DespitetheDepart- ment’s stated commitment to meaningful, well-compensated employmentoffamilymembersoverseas,therealityisthatmanyspous- es andpartners feel blockedbybureaucratic rigidityandbyposts’ rel- ative budgetary priorities. Some measures you can take are: Urging M to create the EFM employment “equalization fund” proposed by AFSA and FLO Changing the FAM to require posts to pay the Highest Previous Rate to experienced EFMs Ordering an expedited process to hire spouses/partners to fill vacant FS positions at post AFSA AND THE DG AFSA Presents “Wish List” O n June 7, during his first weekon the job as the newdirec- tor general of theForeignService anddirectorof theBureau of Human Resources, Ambassador George M. Staples joined the AFSA Governing Board for a lunch meeting at AFSA headquarters. Amb. Stapleswas accompaniedbyPrincipalDeputy Assistant Secretary forHumanResourcesHeatherHodges, Policy Coordination Staff Director Karen Krueger and Chief Labor Management Negotiator Steve Polson. TheDGdescribedpriority issues to theGoverningBoard and said he hoped for relations with AFSA that would be as collegial and collaborative as possible. Topics covered included recruit- ment for theForeignService, training, servicediscipline andForeign Service family issues. AFSAPresident TonyHolmes spoke about the core importance ofmaintaining integrity in the performance- based promotion system. In connection with the desire to have an open and produc- tive relationship with the DG, AFSA offered to present a “wish list” of priorities that the association would like to see addressed by the State Department. Amb. Staples said he would welcome such a list. Following is a copy of theAFSAWishList document that was sent to the DG on June 27.