In a pointed nod to the holiday season, Fórsa school secretaries and caretakers brought their pension parity campaign directly to the "Grinches" at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). Despite the festive hats and good cheer, their message was clear: urgent action is needed to include school secretaries and caretakers in the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.

In a letter to the department, Fórsa’s Head of Education Andy Pike outlined the glaring inequities faced by these school staff members.

“School secretaries and caretakers employed by a school board of management are currently not provided with access to the pension scheme,” Mr. Pike stated. “This is in contrast to the experience of teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) within the same employment, who enjoy the benefits of public service status.

“The employment relationship of a school secretary with their board of management is identical to that of a teacher or SNA, insofar as such staff are paid directly by the Department of Education, while the Minister for Education is responsible for determining conditions of employment and all staff are employed by the school’s board of management,” he added.

The union, which represents around 2,000 school secretaries, highlighted the success of its 2021 pay agreement campaign, which secured direct pay from the Department of Education. Despite this milestone, pension access remains elusive. Fórsa has pledged to continue the fight until parity is achieved.

Among those braving the cold was Jean Scully, a school secretary at Saint Lorcan’s Boys School in Palmerstown, who shared her story:

“Today we are outside DPER to ask for a pension which we deserve. It’s a pretty nippy day but we need to show the government that we are here and we are standing up for our rights. We need a pension, and we deserve a pension like everybody else needs a pension these days, with the standard of living, and we are entitled to it, and we are just totally, always pushed aside like second-class citizens.

“We can't stand for this anymore. We're standing up for our rights as schools, secretaries in schools and caretakers.

“Hopefully. Please, God, with the help of Santa Claus, we should get our pension rights in January of 2025.

“Well, if we don't, we'd be back here in more force with our union Fórsa, and we'd be standing here and there'd be nobody running the schools. Schools can't run without school secretaries and caretakers.”

William Glover, a school caretaker, voiced similar frustrations:

“In the school community we are the only ones that have no pension. They’re still not looking after us. And we open the gates every morning and close them.”

Fórsa emphasises that the vast majority of school secretary members are women, with over half aged 55 or older—making pension access a pressing and urgent issue. The campaign which was re-launched several weeks ago, is mobilising anyone with connections to the school community to make a digital pledge of support.

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