Fórsa’s campaign for pension justice was acknowledged in the Dáil last week as Minister for Education Helen McEntee recognised the vital contribution of school secretaries and caretakers, and the union’s ongoing effort to secure full public service status, including access to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme. 

Responding to a parliamentary question from TD Máiréad Farrell, about the cost of pension parity, the Minister said secretaries and caretakers are “at the heart of the school” and “the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other staff.”  The minister added: “Without them, our schools would be unsustainable.”

Minister McEntee acknowledged Fórsa’s call for pension parity as “an important objective,” but said the Department of Education and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform would ultimately need to consider any proposals.  

Nevertheless, the minister’s response strongly suggests a clear recognition of Fórsa’s campaign and the legitimate expectation that secretaries and caretakers be treated the same as other public service staff. 

The Dáil exchange took place as Fórsa continues to ballot more than 2,300 school secretaries and caretakers for indefinite strike action. The ballot follows more than a year of inaction by the State on pension inclusion—despite the regularisation of employment and centralised payroll arrangements for school secretaries in 2023. 

Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike said: “We welcome the minister’s recognition of the critical role secretaries and caretakers play in schools and the acknowledgment of our campaign, a message the minister delivered in person to our conference in April.  

“But warm words are no substitute for action. The 2023 agreement was a landmark, but it left one serious gap that needs to be addressed. And that’s why members are voting to take action on pensions. 

“Pension justice is not a bonus. It’s a basic entitlement. Like other staff working under the Department’s remit, school secretaries and caretakers deserve equal treatment, including fair access to the public service pension scheme.” 

He added that Fórsa continues to press both departments to engage meaningfully with the union to deliver a fair and lasting resolution: “This campaign is about dignity, respect, and recognition. It’s about finishing what we started. This ballot sends a clear message that our members are determined to see the process through.” 

School Secretaries and caretakers continue to host information meetings around the country to raise awareness. Collectively, these meetings have now been attended by over 1000 people, powerfully demonstrating the impact and reach an organised group of workers can have. 

Next week a campaign briefing will take place in Leinster House. Members will explain how the current situation impacts their lives, in their own words, to TDs and Senators. 

The ballot concludes next Wednesday, 11th June. 

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Fórsa has launched a petition this week calling for the inclusion of services in the Occupied Territories Bill. You can sign the petition here.  

Fórsa’s director of campaigns, Kevin Donoghue said “The government has legal advice saying services can’t be included in the bill, but Tánaiste Simon Harris said he had ‘no issue’ with a provision in the bill banning trade in services with Israeli firms based in Palestine. It is imperative that services are included in the bill, and now is the time to make sure we make our voices heard on the issue.” 

The launch of the petition follows the #StandWithPalestine action which took place on Wednesday 4th June. At 1.05pm, workers showed their support for the people of Palestine by taking a moment to reflect and remember the children who have died in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

The event, an initiative of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), brought together Fórsa members and fellow trade unionists from across the movement.  

Members took photos in their workplaces and posted them to social media using the hashtag #StandWithPalestine.  

Speaking about the event Kevin said “We saw participation from all divisions of the union, with all kinds of workplaces, and even members working from home taking part. Churches around the country also rang their bells in a moving and solemn show of solidarity.” 

The event was organised to coincide with the International United Nations Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression in remembrance of the more than 15,000 children confirmed to have died and over 34,000 injured in the twenty-one months since Israel began its brutal assault on Gaza.  

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June signals the end of the academic year, but Fórsa’s Skills Academy won’t be slowing down. The monthly Fórsa Induction and Lunch & Learn sessions will continue over the summer break. The team will also be busy organising next year’s courses; a full schedule is available here.

Applications for September courses will open beginning in the last week in June and will be advertised here, in the members’ bulletin, as well as sent directly to branches. The Skills Academy is aware of a number of employments that require up to eight weeks’ notice to secure release, which is why applications open with plenty of time to request release.  

Coming up this June, the Skills Academy has a LGBTQIA+ themed Lunch & Lunch, and the exciting first ever Skills Academy Certificate Award Ceremony. 

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

The first ever Skills Academy Certificate Award Ceremony will take place on Tuesday 24th June at 2.30pm, in Nerney’s Court, following the Consultative Council. This first ceremony will be for students of the Level 1 Workplace Representatives’ Training, Level 2 Workplace Representatives’ Training, Mentoring programme, and Leadership programme from the classes of 2024-2025.   

It is hoped that this will become a twice-yearly event with the remainder of the certificates presented following the Consultative Council in November. 

Branch officers are encouraged to support their branch colleagues and join with other students, branch reps, national officers, and Fórsa staff to celebrate their achievement and partake of some light refreshments.   

If you would like to attend, please let the Skills Academy know by sending an email entitled “ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE AWARD CEREMONY” to Judith at skillsacademy@forsa.ie 

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

To celebrate Pride month and our LGBTQIA+ members, the June session of Lunch & Lunch will be Supporting our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. Skills Academy will be joined by guest speaker Lenn Viken (they/them), a trainer with LGBT Ireland who has engaged in queer activism, education and politics across Norway, France and Ireland for almost a decade. 

In this session, you will learn about the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in Ireland at present, the importance of promoting LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and tools to make your own workplace more inclusive. There will also be a short history of the queer rights movement in Ireland. 

Lenn believes in creating an inclusive and non-judgemental environment for knowledge diffusion and discussion, so members who don’t have a clear understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues are encouraged to take part. 

If you are interested, you can register here.

Watch back - Lunch & Learn 30th May - Fórsa mentoring programme 

Last month’s Lunch & Learn is now available on the Skills Academy YouTube. For those who missed it, this session took a look back on the first year of Fórsa’s mentoring programme. The Skills Academy were joined by programme participants and tutors to discuss what went right, what could be improved, how participants benefitted, and what plans lie ahead for year two. 

If you are interested in knowing more about the benefits of mentoring and how you and your branch can participate in this year’s programme, the video is linked here.

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June is Pride month, a time to celebrate and call for continued progress for LGBTQIA+ rights. Though our union has a proud history of campaigning for equality, we are firmly focused on the future. In the past year, we launched our LGBTQIA+ network, produced a print run of Kieran Rose’s publication Trade Unions and Progress for LGBT People, and most recently we had a stand at every Fórsa divisional conference. This June we have several events of interest to members, detailed below. 

Trade Unions & Marriage Equality: A Labour of Love 

To mark the 10th anniversary of the passing of the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015 — and the role of the trade union movement in that campaign — an event featuring a panel discussion will take place in Connolly Hall and Cois Life Bar, Liberty Hall, on 17th June 2025, from 18:30 to 20:00. 

Karl Hayden (Financial Services Union) will chair the discussion, which will feature a number of trade union and LGBTQ+ activists reflecting on the movement’s pivotal role in the referendum. 

Panellists: 

• Seamus Dooley – National Union of Journalists (NUJ) 
• Ethel Buckley – SIPTU 
• Kieran Rose – LGPSU (precursor to Fórsa) Trade Unionist and LGBTQ+ Activist 
• Rachel Mathews McKay – SIPTU LGBT 

Refreshments will be served, and attendance is free of charge. Early booking is advised: registration linked here.

Join us at Pride 

Fórsa’s LGBTQIA+ network is inviting members to march with their union at Pride marches across Ireland this summer. Kicking off in Dublin on Saturday 28th June, we’ll also be at Trans and Intersex Pride in Dublin on Saturday 12th July, followed by Cork Pride on Sunday 3rd August, and finally Galway Pride on Saturday 16th August. 

Member of the LGBTQIA+ network steering committee Danni Hickey said “While we know many members will be used to marching at Pride with friends, voluntary groups, or their employers, we want all members to know they’re welcome to stand with their union. Last year was the first time we marched at Pride with our own union banner, and we’re excited to do so again this year, right around Ireland.” 

If you would like to join your union at any of the Pride marches listed above, please complete this form so that we can communicate further details with you. 

Lunch & Learn with LGBT Ireland 

Our Skills Academy runs a monthly Lunch & Learn for members.  On Friday 27th June, the session will be focused on how to support our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. This talk will cover the history of pride and will give valuable insights into the current experiences of LGBTQIA+ people.  

Participants will gain a clear understanding of LGBTQIA+ terminology and receive practical tools to help make their own workplace more inclusive, one small impactful step at a time. To top it all off, the session will conclude with a 15-minute judgement-free Q&A. This is an event you won’t want to miss this Pride month! 

The training will be provided by Lenn Viken (they/them) who works as a trainer with LGBT Ireland and has been engaged in queer activism, education and politics across Norway, France and Ireland for close to a decade. 

With substantial experience in community-based LGBTQIA+ education, municipal politics and public speaking, Lenn is motivated by their passion for fighting structural issues through inclusive and non-judgemental knowledge diffusion and discussion. Holding a bachelor's degree in Gender and Equality from Sciences Po Paris and currently pursuing a master's degree at Trinity College Dublin, Lenn is excited to spend the rest of their career working to promote minority rights and inclusion in Ireland and abroad.  

To register follow this link here.

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Fórsa has contributed a submission to the government’s public consultation on the first National Public Procurement Strategy for Ireland. 

The union’s submission focuses on ensuring all public procurement is socially responsible, through the inclusion of mandatory selection and award criteria that would ensure workers can access collective bargaining through their trade unions.  

Fórsa argued that public procurement rules must ensure that employers bidding for, or in receipt of public funds, recognise trade unions for collective bargaining purposes, engage in good faith when such engagement is initiated and have a union-negotiated collective agreement in place to receive public funds. 

Government and state bodies have strong purchasing power which should be leveraged to improve living standards for workers.  

Furthermore, the submission highlights the government’s ambition to increase collective bargaining coverage across the Irish labour market, in line with the objectives of the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages.  

Fórsa’s research and policy officer Aisling Cusack explained that introducing regulations that require a union-negotiated collective agreement as a prerequisite for eligibility for public procurement would help advance that ambition. 

She said: “Workers’ rights and access to collective bargaining should be at the centre of Ireland’s public procurement policy. The development of a new national strategy presents a timely opportunity for the state to get behind workers and promote fair pay and decent working conditions for all workers.” 

“The government must move away from an approach to public procurement that focuses solely on cost.  This approach, to what is effectively an outsourcing of public work, only fuels a race to the bottom, rewarding companies with the lowest bids, often at the expense of workers’ rights and union recognition.” 

Aisling concluded: “There is an onus on the government to ensure that companies awarded state contracts act in the public interest, by ensuring that they respect workers’ rights, recognise trade unions for collective bargaining, and have a union-negotiated agreement in place.” 

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Fórsa is calling on members to join the ‘Raise the Roof’ protests in Dublin and Cork this month to demand urgent government action on the deepening housing crisis. 

The demonstration in Dublin will take place at 6pm Tuesday 17th June, outside the Kildare Street gate of Leinster House, while the demonstration in Cork city will take place on Saturday 21st June, beginning at 2pm at the National Monument on Grand Parade. 

Fórsa will participate in both demos as a member of ‘Raise the Roof’ and is actively involved in organising the event. 

The ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign consists of a broad coalition of trade unions, civil society groups, and political parties who are demanding the government stop acting as a bystander and take concerted and effective action to address the deepening housing crisis. 

The government has repeatedly failed to meet its own construction targets, with the Housing Commission now estimating a shortfall of 250,000 homes and predicting the government will continue to miss construction targets by tens of thousands. 

The failure to meet construction targets is leading to spiralling costs of rent and property prices. Rents now average at €2,000 across the country, and property prices have risen to almost 20% more than at the height of the Celtic Tiger. 

Fórsa head of campaigns Kevin Donoghue said, “Members have repeatedly identified housing as a key concern for them. The recent local government conference saw half a dozen housing motions being brought to the floor. Lack of affordable housing is having a serious impact on people’s lives and careers.” 

He continued, “Not being able to find somewhere to live can be a barrier to taking on a new job or accepting a promotion in a different location. 

“Our members keep the State working. We need the government to take this crisis seriously we need a radical shift in policy, one that is focused on the provision of affordable housing for all.” he concluded. 

The ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign has set out a clear set of policy demands which 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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