It appears that AFSA (the Foreign Service employees' union) just won a resounding victory for its constituency. After years of fighting the State Department, AFSA finally gained a concession and now the State Department will pay its employees at overseas missions a base salary equal to those employees working in Washington, DC.
A little bit of explanation is warranted. There are 8 or 11 (oh, my failing memory!) field offices for Diplomatic Security and each one has a different Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) based on the housing market, commodities, etc. of the city in which the office is located. SO, those employees working in DC, for example, receive their base salary PLUS a 23% COLA (or some other such figure). The same thing used to happen overseas. You would recieve your base salary, plus whatever cost differentials your post merits. (In Baghdad, for example, you would receive your base salary PLUS hardship pay PLUS danger pay...yadda, yadda, yadda.) Since the Lima post differential is pretty low (I think it varies, but I believe it's ranged between 10-15%), Anthony actually receives less money working in Lima than he did working in DC.
But of course, we're still paying a DC mortgage, a DC car loan, etc., etc., so this AFSA win means a lot to us! We might be able to buy a decent set of plates or something with all the new money flowing in! Which would be a great big step up from the 3 dinner plates, 2 salad plates, and 4 cereal bowls we currently have on offer...
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2 comments:
Power to the people! Hope you're doing well and thanks for all the info you've given us for our trip to Peru!
Power to the platings! Eventually.
And you're welcome, of course. I can't wait until you crazy kids are here!
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