Fórsa, Ireland’s largest public service trade union, will host a meeting of its school secretary and school caretaker members on Saturday (23rd November), marking the resumption of the union’s campaign for pay and pension justice.
The union successfully campaigned for a new pay agreement (2021) for school secretaries, who are now paid directly by the Department of Education. For many decades, prior to the agreement, school secretaries were individually employed by school boards of management, on varied and sometimes very precarious conditions.
While school secretaries fought and won the right to be included on the Department of Education payroll, they continue to be denied access to the public service pension scheme.
Fórsa’s head of Education, Andy Pike, said the exclusion of school secretaries and caretakers from the public service pension scheme is an injustice: “The Minister of Education is now the paymaster for teachers, SNAs and school secretaries, all of whom are paid by the department.
“However, school secretaries and caretakers continue to be denied access to the pension scheme. That’s why Fórsa is resuming our campaign for pension justice, and more than 2,000 school secretaries are now preparing to take this campaign all the way to Government’s door,” he said.
Time: 10am to 12pm
Date: Saturday 23rd November
Location: Fórsa head office, Nerney’s Court
Journalists and photographers are invited to attend the event. Fórsa members attending the meeting will join the Rally for Unity and Hope from 1pm.
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