This year marks the first ever Fórsa SNA Appreciation Day, taking place on Thursday 26th September 2024. To celebrate SNA Appreciation Day, we are running a national competition for one lucky school in each province to win a €1,000 prize.

All members of the school community are eligible to enter the draw, staff and parents alike. 

Of course, because the aim of SNA Appreciation Day is to celebrate all the things SNAs do to make our schools special there is also a competition for SNAs.

SNA members of Fórsa are also eligible to be included in a separate €1,000 draw with one winner per province. Any SNAs not yet members of Fórsa are also eligible to enter the draw if they join Fórsa by the 20th of September.

We have produced a SNA Appreciation Day pack to help schools get as many entries as possible, and increase their chances of winning:

SNA Appreciation Day Poster
SNA Appreciation Day Flyer for parents
An SNA Leave Chart 

This competition would not be possible without the generous contributions from Dubco Credit Union and Cornmarket who have shown their eager support for SNAs with this event. 

The closing date for entries to both draws is 5pm on Monday 23rd of September 2024. Winners will be contacted by Wednesday 25th and a presentation will be made to the schools and member winners on SNA Appreciation Day.

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The closing date for registrations for the United for Dave: Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association fundraiser cycle is fast approaching. If you’d like to take part, you should send your details to Linda Casey (lcasey@forsa.ie) on or before Monday 23rd September.

Our former colleague, Dave Hughes, is currently living with Motor Neurone Disease. With Dave’s blessing, some of his former Fórsa colleagues are organising a 100km sponsored cycle to raise funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, which has given its approval to this initiative. 

Dave is a well-known and popular figure in the trade union movement and beyond. He recently retired as deputy general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and previously worked for IMPACT, the CPSU, and the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. He has worked tirelessly for members over many years, and he is a popular and respected figure across the entire trade union movement and beyond. 

The event takes place from 9.00am on Saturday 28th September, setting off from the INMO headquarters in Dublin 7. The route is a 100km loop into Co. Meath and back, returning through Dave’s home turf of Clonsilla. 

If the 100km seems a bit daunting, remember it’s not a race and you can cycle as much or as little as you like.

If cycling isn’t for you, you can still show solidarity and support the fundraising effort. Simply donate what you can, as an individual or an organisation, through this link here. All donations are processed securely, and all funds go directly to the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

You can find more information on the cycle here.

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

We have some very exciting training opportunities coming up over the next month. Kicking off with a Lunch & Learn on the (often misunderstood) topic of local bargaining and continuing with the new Communications and Digital Skills for Branches training, and the ever popular Fórsa Induction.

Lunch & Learn – Public Service pay determination and the Local Bargaining clause with Fórsa General Secretary Kevin Callinan - Online – 1-2pm 27th September 

Live Lunch & Learn is our Skills Academy’s monthly online offering to members. These hour-long sessions take place from 1-2pm on the last Friday of every month. Lunch & Learn sessions provide information on a wide variety of different topics of interest to Fórsa members.

We have a very special Lunch & Learn this month. Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan will join the Skills Academy team to explain the local bargaining aspect of the current public service pay agreement. In his capacity as chair of the Public Sector Committee of ICTU, Kevin is ideally placed to guide you through the process, and intended outcomes, of the local bargaining element of the new pay deal. 

In addition to answering members questions, Kevin will outline how the absence of local or grade bargaining from public service pay determination has caused difficulties.

This session is designed to provide invaluable information on a topic of huge significance to all our members and an opportunity to have your questions answered directly, and is not to be missed.

Register here 

Communications and Digital Skills for Branches – Cork & Galway - October

Coming up in October will be the last chance to avail of the brand-new Communications and Digital Skills for Branches course until next year.

An exciting course designed for branch officers who regularly communicate with union members, have a basic level of understanding of social media, and the ambition to improve their branch’s communications.

Training is delivered by Hannah Deasy, Director of Communications, and Kate O'Sullivan, Director of Digital. Each will bring their individual expertise to bear. Attendees can expect to learn on the effective use of email and other types of communication with union members, and how to gather stories and create content for social media.

Dates:
Tuesday 8th October in the Cork Office, Father Matthew Quay, Cork, T12 EWVO
Register here

Tuesday 15th October in the Fórsa Galway Office, Unit 23-24, Sean Mulvoy Business Park, Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, H91 HT27
Register here

Fórsa Induction – Online - Wednesday, 9th October 2024

A session designed with new members in mind, but also quite useful for more long-time members interested in getting involved with union organising. The session will give attendees a firm understanding of the basics of the union as well as how to become more engaged with union work locally.

The session provides very basic information to ensure our members understand exactly what a trade union is, the structure of Fórsa and how we do our business, along with discussing how members can become more engaged and have their voice heard locally and their issues raised at divisional and national levels.

There are two sessions available, one in the morning at 09:30 and another in the evening at 18:00 on Wednesday, 9th October 2024. The sessions will be between 2 to 2 1/2 hours long and online.

Register here

If you have queries about the Skills Academy please contact Judith at 021 4255221 or by email to skillsacademy@forsa.ie.

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

With more than 3,750 schools across Ireland participating, the country’s first-ever SNA Appreciation Day, next Thursday (26th September) is shaping up to be a huge success, with people encouraged to use the hashtag #ThankOurSNAs. 

Next week, Fórsa's Education division will officially launch SNA Appreciation Day, celebrating the crucial role SNAs play in supporting students with additional needs. The high level of engagement reflects the strong sense of community among school staff and the deep appreciation for SNAs felt by teachers, principals, and school secretaries alike. 

James Redmond spoke with Noreen O'Mahony about the origins of the day, its overwhelmingly positive reception, and its potential to mark a turning point in recognising the contributions of SNAs: “We were delighted with the response to the SNA Appreciation Day. Schools have been so positive. 

“Our colleagues on the school secretaries' branch were fantastic in distributing their packs once they came in. Principals, teachers, school secretaries and SNA members themselves have been fantastic in their response,” she said.

Fórsa has four SNA branches and are among some of the most active branches in the union.

At its core, SNA Appreciation Day is not just about a one-day celebration. It’s about fostering a deeper understanding of the integral role that SNAs play in schools and advocating for them to be treated as full members of the school community. Noreen says that the best-run schools are those where every member of staff, from the principal to the caretaker, feels valued and involved.

They continue to face significant challenges, including the dreadful hangover of 72 obligatory hours from the Croke Park agreement. Noreen is not surprised by the scale of the mobilisation of SNAs in response to this. She credits the broader SNA community for driving this effort: “I never doubted this, they're an amazing bunch. Anytime we run training, anything like that, they show up in their droves,” she says proudly.  

One of the key aims of SNA Appreciation Day is to raise awareness of the role that SNAs play in schools, particularly among parents who may not be fully aware of the work they do and that’s why parents can enter too. Noreen says this is especially important in larger schools. 

“It was just to get the parents more aware that actually there is this group of wonderful workers. They're working in our schools. We're not around that long in the grand scheme of things. So it's just to get the awareness out there. And I think parents are really appreciative,” she says. 

Fórsa is also working on the more formal recognition of SNAs through ongoing contract renegotiations with the Department of Education. The goal is to ensure that SNAs are not only appreciated by their peers and school communities but also receive the institutional recognition and support they deserve.   

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

Fórsa members working in the higher education sector who have requested a job evaluation will shortly be contacted by their employing Institution. Fórsa anticipates that members who have sought an evaluation will also receive a job evaluation questionnaire to complete. 

The union’s Higher Education branch has organised a series of information meetings for members to coincide with the release of the questionnaires to eligible members. 
These nationwide meetings are for members who have been selected for job evaluation.

The meetings are schedules to take place in the following locations:

• 26th September  - ATU Sligo at 1pm
• 27th September - SETU Waterford at 1pm
• 30th September - SETU Carlow at 1pm
• 1st October - TUS Athlone at 1pm
• 1st October - ATU Galway at 4pm
• 2nd October - MTU Cork at 1pm
• 2nd October - MTU Kerry at 4pm
• 2nd October - TUD Grangegorman at 1pm
• 2nd October - TUD Blanchardstown at 4pm
• 3rd October - TUD Tallaght    at 1pm
• 4th October - ATU Letterkenny at 1pm
• 7th October - TUS Limerick at 1pm
• 7th October - Mary Immaculate College at 4pm
• 7th October – Dundalk at 4pm
• 9th October – IADT at 4pm

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

Fórsa will host a series of information meetings for SNAs in the coming weeks. The meetings have been scheduled in order to update members on progress in national discussions on the future of the role of the SNA and talks on the national contract. 

All SNA members are encouraged, if possible, to attend the meeting in your region, where a comprehensive briefing on the current status of the talks will be provided.
The date and venues for the meetings are as follows:

SEPTEMBER

• 19th September Education Centre Kilkenny at 7pm
• 23rd September The Great Southern Hotel Killarney at 6.30 pm
• 24th September The Pillo Hotel Ashbourne at 7pm
• 25th September Education Centre, Tallaght at 6.30 pm
• 26th September  Park Hotel Cork at 6.30pm
• 30th September The Radisson Blu Hotel Limerick at 6.30 pm

OCTOBER

• 1st October The Keadeen Hotel Newbridge at 7pm
• 3rd October the Clanree Hotel Letterkenny at 6.30 pm
• 9th October the Errigal Country House Hotel, Co Cavan at 6.30 pm
• 10th October the Galway Forsa Office at 6.30 pm

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

On Tuesday 10th September trade union activists and anti-racism campaigners descended upon the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, for ICTU’s Stronger Together: Anti-racist Workplaces & Trade Unions Conference.

The conference was held to report on the past year’s activity for the ICTU anti-racism project, as well as to discuss the challenges of tackling racism in the workplace. The day saw contributions from academics, trade unionists, and Joe O’Brien TD, Minster for state with responsibility for community development and charities.

Fórsa was well represented among contributors with Kevin Ward, member, Khalid El-Busaidy, membership officer, and Andy Pike, Head of Education Division participating in panels.

The tone for the day was set early in the opening speech by Owen Reidy. “The key issue that comes out of the report is as a movement, we have work to do” he said “we need the maturity and capacity to do better.”

The sentiment was later driven home by Andy Pike who opened by saying “I think we need to note what we’re not doing well.” He continued “We didn’t prepare sufficiently for the rise of the far-right. We were complacent, we let ourselves believe Ireland isn’t a racist country, not like the US and UK.

“We were slow to respond.”

Andy Pike, Head of Education Division 

The second panel consisted of migrant workers who have undertaken the ICTU anti-racism project’s Leadership Programme for Minority Ethnic and Migrant Workers. The panelists echoed Andy’s concerns about the rise of the far right.

Aakansha Surve, NUJ, lamented “the Ireland I lived in before the riots is very different to the one I live in now.” 

Kevin Ward warned against thinking racism in Ireland is about the far right and nothing else: “It’s the same challenges, nothing’s really changed. Embedded in attitudes to migrant workers” Kevin said “we always have to compete to be accepted.”

Khalid gave life to his panel-mate’s points with stories of his experiences living in Ireland. How he faced discrimination in the workplace because of his nationality, the love he had for the innocent curiosity of Irish people in the 1990s, and the terror of trying to make it home from Fórsa’s head office at Nerney’s Court, a stone’s throw from O’Connell Street, on the night of the riots.

From left to right: Dr. Lucy Michael, Aakansha Surve, Kevin Ward, Khalid El Busaidy

More than simply tackling the far right and fighting racism in the workplace, unions were called upon to support migrant workers and engage with migrant communities. 

Dr. Lucy Michael, Lucy Michael Research, Training and Consultancy, noted “Unions must be welcoming to support racism cases. It must be consistent; it must be enthusiastically sought out.”

She went on to describe how this would create a mutually beneficial relationship. She cited research which shows migrant workers helped by unions become enthusiastic contributors to unions.

Research also showed that unions are lacking expertise when it comes to discrimination cases on the grounds of race and/or nationality. Kate Turner, WRC, in her presentation shared the unsettling figure that last year 18.6% of employment case were on grounds of race, the majority of which were unsuccessful.

ICTU’s anti-racism project will continue into a second year. Dr David Carroll, project coordinator, noted that the large number of requests to host trainings are “symptomatic of the hunger to address these issues.” In the second year the project will expand to include a Training the Trainers course as well as providing and online and over the phone anti-racism clinic advice line.

There were several need-to-know pieces of information which came out of the afternoon:

• Discrimination cases are taken to the Workplace Relations Commission. This is all discrimination cases, including cases of refusal of service, not just employment cases.
• Active bystander is protected by equality legislation, meaning a coworker who intervenes in workplace discrimination is protected by law from facing punitive measures from the employer.
• Discrimination cases must be lodged within six months of the incident happening, this time limit does not count for equal pay claims. 

ICTU’s anti-racism toolkit can be accessed here.

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has written to An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, on behalf of thousands of workers in the aviation sector, requesting an urgent review of the current passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

The cap was set at 32m passengers per year as a condition of the planning permission - awarded by Fingal County Council in 2007- for the construction of Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2. 

In a letter to An Taoiseach, ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy acknowledged the imposition of the cap in relation to “significant infrastructural deficits that existed at the time, particularly as regards access to Dublin Airport by car and public transport,” but warned that “wider policy objectives…are being impacted by the current restriction on passenger numbers.”

At the end of August, Dublin Airport passenger numbers are trending 5.5% ahead of 2023, and this trend is forecast to continue into September, according to the DAA, which means the current passenger cap is likely to be breached this year.

Higher passenger volumes have made the cap a hotter political topic this year, with several aviation stakeholders and business representatives actively lobbying for the cap to be lifted. 

The Government’s National Aviation Policy, Fingal Development Plan and Dublin Airport Local Area Plan all assume passenger growth for the Airport.  On this basis, Owen said, urgent action is required to address the passenger cap from a planning, policy and economic perspective. 

In his correspondence Owen said some airlines, and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), have warned that if the cap is maintained at its current level it will result in the loss of hundreds of jobs in the aviation sector. He added that some airlines, who had planned to begin services to and from Dublin from next year, have postponed or cancelled their plans. 

He said ICTU is “seriously concerned” about the potential loss of jobs in the sector, and in related sectors such as hospitality. 

He said passengers transiting and transferring through Dublin Airport continue to be counted as part of determining the annual passenger figure: “Given the fact that these passengers do not actually leave Dublin Airport, it would seem to us that urgent consideration needs to be given to the appropriateness of this aspect of the passenger cap.”

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa. 

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has announced that it will hire an additional 70 permanent driver testers following a year-long campaign by Fórsa. The new posts will help to reduce waiting times for a driving test.

The campaign involved political lobbying, negotiations, a presentation to an Oireachtas Committee and a petition to Transport Minister Eamonn Ryan which was signed by 150 driver testers. 

Fórsa Assistant General Secretary Ruairí Creaney welcomed the announcement, describing it as the “result of months of commitment and hard work by Fórsa activists. 

“For too long, the RSA relied on hiring staff on insecure temporary contracts to deliver this important service. This had a significantly negative impact on both the driver test waiting times and industrial relations, not to mention the anxiety of our members experiencing precarious employment.

“Today we’re one step closer to ensuring that all workers in the RSA enjoy the security of a permanent contract of employment. 

“I want to congratulate the activists of the RSA Professional branch for this victory and recognise their commitment to improving their colleagues’ working conditions,” he said.

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa.