On Monday 23rd June Fórsa will be celebrating United Nations Public Services Day. 

Together with trade union colleagues from across Europe and around the world, we will celebrate all the workers who provide the vital public services that keep our societies running smoothly. 

General secretary Kevin Callinan said: “Imagining a world without public sector workers doesn’t bear thinking about. Public sector workers provide the services that frame our day-to-day lives, whether that's through local authorities, the civil service, in health, education or semi state agencies. Fórsa members deserve our gratitude and respect. Without you, the tapestry that holds society together would unravel.” 

Ahead of the occasion, the European Public Service Union (EPSU), of which Fórsa is a member, launched its new Public Services Agenda, calling for strong, accessible, and democratically accountable public services to be placed at the heart of Europe’s future. 

Launching the document, the EPSU underlined the role public services have in daily life - from healthcare and education to energy, justice and care. The agenda calls for a commitment to public investment, fair taxation, and high-quality public employment. 

It also offers a roadmap to ensure the EU delivers on the promises of the European Pillar of Social Rights - particularly the right to quality, affordable public services. Read it here. 

Keep an eye on Fórsa’s social media channels and your emails on Monday so you can watch and share our celebration of public services and the workers who provide them. 

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This month the Skills Academy are happy to announce the roll-out of an enhanced record system, designed and built by the Fórsa membership team. This system will give the Skills Academy the ability to identify and collate information on branch participation in training, and completion rates for all courses. 

Fórsa director of membership training and development, Fiona Dunne, said “This new system will allow us to more easily access student records and gather a full statistical breakdown of which members are taking up training. This information will allow us to better match what we have on offer with members’ needs, and ensure our resources are being directed where they’re needed.” 

The new interface will cover records from the past three years. Branches that wish to know what training has been undertaken by their representatives during that time can contact the Skills Academy at skillsacademy@forsa.ie.

Coming up in the next few weeks, the Skills Academy has the ever-popular Induction for new members, their first-ever Skills Academy Certificate Award Ceremony, and to celebrate Pride month, an LGBTQIA+ themed Lunch & Learn.  

Fórsa Induction for new members – Online - Wednesday 9th July  

Ideal for new members, Fórsa Induction is a short, informative session designed to unravel some of the mysteries of the union and provide a warm welcome. 

Learn the basics of what exactly a trade union is, the structure of Fórsa and how we operate, and how members can become more engaged, have their voices heard locally, and raise issues at divisional and national levels.   

Register here.

Live: Lunch & Learn – Supporting our LGBTQIA+ colleagues – 1-2pm Friday 27th June – Online  

LGBT Ireland's Pride Talk 2025 will bring you through the history of Pride in Ireland over the past five decades and outline why Pride celebrations in 2025 matter as much now as they did over 40 years ago, when the first Pride parade took place. Allyship is the key way for non-LGBTQIA+ people to express support, provide safety and co-create a fully equal and inclusive workplace, community and society. Allyship is at the heart of why Pride still matters.  

If you are interested, you can register here. Registration will remain open until Thursday 26th June.

Skills Academy Certificate Award Ceremony – 2.30pm 24th June - Nerney’s Court  

The Skills Academy are looking forward to welcoming some of their former students to Nerney’s Court next week for the first-ever Skills Academy certificate award ceremony. This ceremony will see students from several courses receive certificates of completion for courses they took this year. A second ceremony will take place later in the year for the remaining courses. Anyone in and around Nerney’s Court on the day is encouraged to join in celebrating their union colleagues’ achievement. 

Next semester  

The next academic year begins in September with a wide variety of both new and returning courses available for members. Workplace Representative Training levels one and two, Public Speaking, Data Protection, Digital and Social Media, Communications, and more! Applications for each will open over the coming weeks. 

Check out the full schedule for the upcoming academic year here. If you would like to apply for any courses, you can contact your branch committee directly to receive an application link as they become available. 

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United Against Racism Ireland has called on all activists, anti-racists, political parties, unions, and anyone who opposes the far-right to join them on Sunday 22nd June to counter-protest the second ‘God Bless Ireland’ anti-immigration protest. 

The counter protest will be meeting on Dame Street at 1:30pm. 

The previous ‘God Bless Ireland’ protest encountered criticism from across Irish society with reports of chants of “get them out”, speakers calling for mass deportations, open use of Nazi salutes, and signs glorifying Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and controversial public figure Conor McGregor who was present on the day. 

United Against Racism said “In April, far-right activists and groups led a worrying and explicitly racist and anti-immigrant demonstration. UAR organised a counter-demonstration to send a clear message: racism is not welcome on our streets.” 

“When left unchallenged, these far-right rallies embolden people to attack and abuse migrants and people of colour, dividing our communities, making our cities and towns unsafe” they continued. 

Fórsa stands against racism and discrimination in Irish society. Our members come from across the island of Ireland and around the world. We stand with our colleagues being adversely affected by rising anti-immigration sentiment and activities. 

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Last week it was revealed that errors made by the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) have led to pension overpayment and underpayment errors. Up to 13,000 retired civil servants have been affected and will now have their payments assessed.

A significant number of the retired workers involved come from non-management grades, many of whom remain retired members of Fórsa. However, much commentary has focused on retired senior civil servants and former ministers.

Deputy general secretary Matt Staunton drew attention to the anxiety retired civil servants will now be feeling, due to errors that are no fault of their own, and called on public expenditure minister Jack Chambers to resolve the issue as a matter of urgency.

Addressing retired members, he said: “Having served the state all of your adult life and moved on to a well-deserved retirement, to suddenly hear the news that unscheduled and unexpected bills may be coming your way is the very last thing you need to hear.”

Fórsa is taking legal advice for retired members to ascertain whether the general statute of limitations (usually six years) applies here and is exploring what options are available to impacted members. 

Matt continued: “The state has already admitted that it is solely culpable for these fundamental errors, which are long-running. We are calling on the minister to immediately clarify the situation regarding low-income retired public servants caught up in a mess for which they bear no responsibility. 

“Retiring ministers and senior public servants who have received substantial lump sums should have had the correct taxes deducted, and any repayments should be paid immediately by the beneficiaries. However, to chase close to 13,000 retired public servants for repayments, due to errors beyond their control, is reprehensible.

“Our position is that retired public servants should not be made to pay for what the minister himself called: “serious and systemic operational issues” at the NSSO.

“The minister must take genuine responsibility here. The sense of let down and fear, bordering on terror, over this is palpable among Fórsa’s retired members,” he said.

Matt called on the minister to immediately clarify whether a 2018 circular, referenced in media reports and concerning salary overpayments, applies here. 

Matt said: “The circular sets out a repayment schedule of 8% gross pay per pay period. However, if repayment terms are limited to one year, this would be punitive for retired members, who have lower monthly incomes than people in active employment. It would be unrealistic and unfair to apply the same constraints on them.”

Martin Bridgeman, chair of the union’s Retired Members, has said “We remain available to members who may be affected by this emerging situation. The current lack of clarity is deeply troubling and is adding to the stress and upset already caused to our retired colleagues. We will assist and support them in any way we can, working with our colleagues across the union.

"Our primary focus is the protection of members’ pension terms and conditions, and we will continue to advocate on behalf of members as regards the correct and timely payment of pensions and to provide a point of contact for queries”.

Martin also noted the recent appointment of Claudia Jennings, as membership development officer. He said: “Claudia is a highly regarded colleague, and we are delighted to welcome her. We look forward to working with Claudia in supporting Fórsa members in retirement, and she will be a key part of our ongoing membership and recruitment campaign."

If you are affected by this issue, you can contact Martin or Claudia by email at rma_chair@forsa-rep.ie and cjennings@forsa.ie

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Two former nightwatchmen have won a landmark adjudication, forcing the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to backpay wages denied under a key union-negotiated agreement. 

A recent win for Fórsa saw the civil service adjudicator find in favour of a pair of nightwatchmen members formerly employed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).

The adjudicator found that the members had been underpaid by the SEC, who claimed the workers were not covered by a Labour Relations Commission (LRC) negotiated Interim Service Level Arrangement. As such, the members were awarded payment backdated to the introduction of the agreement.

Fórsa official, Paul Moyer said, “It’s right that the adjudicator found in favour of our members, but it is disappointing that it has taken so long to resolve this case and that it will take longer still to fully calculate what they are owed.”

Due to the nature of the underpayment, it will take time for the SEC to calculate the full settlement owed, with a final figure being expected in the coming weeks.

Paul said, “This case isn’t over until our members are paid. I will be working with the SEC to ensure this happens without further delay.”

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Fórsa is calling on members to join the ‘Raise the Roof’ protest in Cork this weekend, on Saturday 21st June, beginning at 2pm at the National Monument on Grand Parade. 

Fórsa is a member of the broad coalition organising the ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign and will be taking part on the day. 

We are joined in the ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign by fellow trade unions, civil society groups, and political parties, who are demanding that the government take concerted and effective action to address the deepening housing crisis.  

According to recent figures from the Daft.ie, average rents in Cork City have risen by 13.6% in the past year, to €2,213, with a similar rate of increase being felt across Munster. 

Fórsa head of campaigns Kevin Donoghue said, “We had a great turn out from members in Dublin at a ‘Raise the Roof’ demo on Tuesday. We’re hoping to see our Cork members and members across Munster turn out in force. Unaffordable rents and housing prices are impacting our members’ lives and careers all around Ireland.” 

“The cost of housing is spiralling across the country. Not just in the big cities, but in the towns and countryside. We have to say enough is enough” he continued. 

The Cork protest follows a protest outside Leinster House on Tuesday 17th June, which precipitated renewed scrutiny of government failings in housing provisions in the Dáil. The protest was widely reported on, with coverage appearing on RTE, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Journal, and the Irish Examiner, amongst many others.

Speaking at the protest, Fórsa member Elli Horgan said “I’m being forced to move out of Dublin because my rent is over a thousand euro. I’m a public healthcare worker, I want to serve Dublin, but I have no choice.”

The ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign is calling on government to adopt a series of policy demands to address the housing crisis. These include:  

• An expanded programme of public housing on public land, led by local authorities and housing bodies to deliver affordable housing.  
• Ensure that at least 20% of all housing is public housing, in line with Housing Commission report.  
• Move to a genuinely affordable not-for-profit cost rental model.  
• Full restoration and expansion of the tenant-in-situ scheme.  
• Urgent action to tackle the tens of thousands of vacant and derelict properties.  
• An immediate restoration of the ban on no fault evictions and a freeze on all rent increases.  
• And most of all, we need a clear commitment that workers will be able to live in the communities they serve.  

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