Fórsa school secretaries and caretakers have resumed their campaign for pay and pension justice for school secretaries and caretakers.

The campaign was launched at an event in Fórsa’s Dublin offices on Saturday 23rd November.  

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. 

School, secretaries and caretakers attended the event, which heard from speakers who outlined the difficulties those who are unable to join the public service pension scheme face, despite being directly employed by the Department of Education. The event was moderated by Chair of the school secretaries branch Luisa Carty, who introduced the speakers and sent a powerful message to the crowd saying “We got our foot in the door with pay, now we’ve got to make this happen.”

Rena McGrath and Orla Greaney are school secretaries who have worked together in a Galway school for more than 20 years. Rena has access to the pension scheme, while Orla does not. 
Speaking as part of a panel Rena described Orla’s situation as a clear injustice: “I work alongside Orla every day. We share an office, and we share all the duties involved in working in our roles as school secretaries.

“Unfortunately, the Department chooses to ignore Orla’s needs when it comes to parity and fairness. This is not equality for my peers, and this is what we are fighting to change,” she said.

The secretary of Fórsa’s School Secretaries branch, Noreen O’Callaghan, said the vast majority (98.2%) of the branch’s membership are women while more than half (55%) are over the age of 55.

Noreen said:  “Employers, workers and Government all understand how important it is for workers to have a pension. I am 24 years in the role. I  love the job and I make a difference every single day. It’s fundamental to feel valued, and this unfairness must stop.” 

“It makes no sense to have school secretaries on the payroll while denying them access to the main pension scheme. The inconsistency of the department’s approach ensures inequality.” she said.

Billy Kerins, representing the school caretakers branch said: “We’re the first to arrive and the last to leave. I love being part of the school community. It’s just not fair that after 18 years of service I have no pension entitlement.”

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.

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.

The next stage of the campaign aims to collect 500 pledges of support from parents associations, community groups, local businesses and organisations.

Outlining the next steps for the campaign Fórsa organiser Seamus Ryan said: “We need members to supporters to use the campaign QR code to give us a simple pledge of support confirming that they support the call for Fair Pensions For All School Staff. These pledges will demonstrate the support for the campaign within our local communities.”

“We will build up the number of pledges as we progress through 2025. Our aim is to have thousands of these pledges by Easter next year, showing the depth and breadth of support for fair pensions for secretaries and caretakers. We will provide updates for you as the number of pledges increases.”

You can access the pledge here.

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