Fórsa and other public service unions have been in official discussions about the establishment of the independent body charged with addressing the additional working time introduced for many public servants in 2013.

Fórsa is continuing to campaign for the reinstatement of flexitime across the local authority sector. Staff working remotely, or working a combination of at-home and in-office hours, still don’t have access to the scheme after its temporary suspension was announced at the outset of the Covid-19 emergency.

Fórsa has reaffirmed its position that forced transfers of local authority workers to Irish Water will not be accepted. The approach was underlined at a special joint meeting of the unions’ two divisions with workers in the sector – the Local Government Division and the Municipal Employees Division – which took place earlier this month to consider Government’s recently published policy paper on the future of water services.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has called for an end to forced retirement and a return to a full State retirement pension at age 65. In a submission to a public consultation run by the Pensions Commission, ICTU also supports a flexible pension age, the return of the Pension Reserves Fund, and an increase in employers’ PRSI contributions.

Fórsa has reached agreement on a shared register for local authorities in the South-East, to ensure the correct implementation of confined recruitment ratios set out in a national deal.

Fórsa members in Scouting Ireland will move to a three-day week with a commensurate reduction in pay later this month. This comes after the organisation’s board decided to impose a shorter working week due to financial difficulties encountered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fórsa has raised concerns over sick leave arrangements for staff who suffer from ‘long Covid.’ In recent engagements with senior officials of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), the union said changes to DPER’s approach to Covid-related sick leave risked leaving long Covid sufferers with reduced incomes. It said some such cases had already emerged.