Preparations are well underway for a Labour Court hearing on the school secretaries and caretakers pension dispute.

Talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) broke down in November after no progress was made on providing comparable pension benefits or recognising prior service.

The union will now set out the case for members at a Labour Court hearing, which will take place on Monday 12th January 2026.

This process will result in a recommendation from the Court on the issue of the provision of comparable pension benefits for secretaries and caretakers.  Once the Labour Court issues its recommendation members of the school secretaries and school caretakers branches will be consulted on acceptance or rejection of the terms.  

Three other claims on caretaker pay levels, bereavement leave, and sick leave remain in process at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). 

Head of education Andy Pike commented: “The Labour Court hearing will allow us to put forward our proposals for a resolution to the dispute.” 

“We will demonstrate that when compared to the public service pension arrangements, the new auto enrolment savings scheme requires secretaries and caretakers to pay higher contributions, whereas the government contributions are lower, and members would receive inferior pensions.” 

Andy continued: “We will also be explaining the need to recognise the long and significant service provided by members who are over the age of 60 and are ineligible for auto enrolment.  Our members deserve equal treatment, and we will be asking the Court to recognise that.” 

Branch chairs Luisa Carty and David Hearne thanked members for their patience and perseverance.  

Luisa said: “The work from our members over this past year has been immense. Building awareness of the issue, preparing the strike and then stopping work for a week took huge resolve. We know it is hard to keep the faith during the long talks process, but the Labour Court hearing offers a unique opportunity to put forward our proposals.”  

David Hearne said: “This year the caretakers branch has gone from strength to strength. I’m so proud of how we’ve grown and the collective power we have built. This is a long process, but it will be worth it when we get the outcome we deserve.” 

Earlier this month Fórsa was invited to address an international audience of over 600 trade union activists from around the world on an ‘Organising for Power’ webinar to explain how the Pension Parity campaign was organised.  

Luisa Carty discussed the issues that gave rise to the campaign, while David Hearne explained the determination of members to take strike action in pursuit of fair treatment. National secretary Andy Pike presented on how Fórsa overcame the difficulties of organising members across thousands of different workplaces.  

The Fórsa campaign was one of three presentations, the others featured an organising campaign in a university, and the third presentation was given by a health workers union from Ghana. 

Speaking about the event Andy Pike said:  “This was a great opportunity to share experiences with union colleagues on an international basis, and to highlight what we have learnt about how to organise members in really difficult circumstances across multiple workplaces, which was of significant interest to many colleagues on the webinar, who are dealing with similar problems in their own countries”. 

“The level of interest in this campaign shows how much we have achieved together over the past year and serves as a powerful reminder of our collective strength.”

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