Tomorrow, Saturday 5th October, a national demonstration of solidarity with Palestine will take place in Dublin. This demonstration will mark a full year of atrocities and humanitarian crisis being subjected upon the people of Palestine.
For a year Fórsa has stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Week after week our members have marched demanding ceasefire and respect for the human rights of Palestinians. We welcomed Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, Palestine’s Ambassador to Ireland, to our national conference, and we have donated over €135,000 to UNICEF’s Gaza appeal.
Tomorrow we will march again to demand peace and security for Palestine and all peoples of the region.
Members are encouraged to march together as part of the trade union bloc, which will meet outside the Mandate office from 12.45pm. The demonstration is set to start at the Garden of Remembrance and march to the Dáil. Flags and banners will be available from the Fórsa offices at Nerney’s Court form midday on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the upcoming demonstration Fórsa head of campaigns Grace Williams said: “A full year of genocide has playing out in front of our eyes, and the situation is only getting worse.
“We need action. We need sanctions. We need effective leadership and the international community must actively build pressure to stop the violence.”
For members who cannot make it to Dublin there are solidarity events taking place all week around the country. More information is available here.
Third increase under the agreement takes affect this week.
Public service pay scales are currently being amended to reflect an increase of 1% of gross pay, or €500, whichever is the greater, effective from 1st October.
The pay adjustment was due under the existing terms of the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026, negotiated by unions earlier this year and overwhelmingly accepted in a ballot of Fórsa members in March.
The agreement covers the period from 1st January 2024 to 30th June 2026 and makes provisions for pay improvements worth 9.25% – with a further 1% available for local bargaining – for public sector workers. The October adjustment marks the third increase this year, totalling a 4.25% increase to date.
Pay scales for Fórsa members are currently being updated on the union’s website, reflecting the final pay adjustment under the agreement, and can be viewed here.
The closing date for applications to the 'Jerry King Gaeltacht Scholarship Scheme for children of Fórsa members' for 2025 is fast approaching. Don’t miss your chance to avail of financial assistance in sending your child to Gaeltacht courses.
Applications are open for children of Fórsa members, who are aged between 11 years and 18 years on 1st July 2025. Children who received a grant last year will not be eligible to receive a grant again this year. This is to ensure as many children as possible benefit from the scheme.
The scheme will provide 80 grants of €150 each to assist children of Fórsa members attending residential Irish language courses in Gaeltacht areas next summer. While a further 40 grants of €70 are will be provided to assist children to attend day-only Irish language courses held outside Gaeltacht areas.
If you wish to apply you can download the application form here.
Applications must be returned by 5pm Friday October 18th, 2024. Forms can be submitted by email to gaeltacht@forsa.ie, or by post to Fórsa Head Office to the following address:
The Skills Academy has been very busy preparing offerings for members this month. Upcoming courses include Workplace Representative trainings, the last chance to take Communications and Digital skills for Branches in 2024, and a brand-new course on developing positive and sustainable industrial relations locally and with the WRC.
Lunch & Learn - The role of the workplace representative in building effective industrial relations locally – Online - October 25th
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.
In this month’s Lunch and Learn Brendan Cunningham, former Regional Manager with the WRC, will join us. Brendan will talk about the importance of the workplace representative, their role, and responsibilities in building sustainable working relationships and the links between local engagement and the WRC.
This session also serves as the introduction to a new workshop which Brendan will deliver. The first session is scheduled to be delivered on November 6th in Nerney’s Court.
Last month’s Lunch and Learn is now available to be viewed online. If you missed General Secretary Kevin Callinan explaining pay determination in the public sector and the local bargaining clause you can catch up on the Skills Academy YouTube channel.
Developing a deeper understanding of the link between local Industrial relations and third-party mechanisms – Dublin – November 6th
A new workshop aimed at workplace and branch reps who have regular engagement with local management. This one-day course will teach reps how to develop and maintain positive and sustainable relationships between local engagement and the WRC. The first session has already been filled. New dates will be released soon.
This course is only open to members in a workplace representative or branch executive officer role who regularly engage with local management.
Communications and Digital skills for Branches - Galway - 15th October
Only a few places remain in the last session of Communications and Digital Skills for Branches for this year. The course is 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. 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.
Level 1 is a 3-day course for new workplace representatives, who have undertaken the Fórsa Induction session, and have little to no representative experience or training.
This course teaches participants communications skills and representative knowledge to effectively undertake the role of workplace representative and create strong teams to improve local participation to strengthen influence and achieve better outcomes.
ICTU described this week’s Budget 2025 as “fiscally irresponsible” saying that corporation tax receipts are being used to fuel a pre-election giveaway in a return to “reckless, pre-crash budgetary strategies.”
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has described this week’s Budget 2025 announcement as “fiscally irresponsible” and said that corporation tax receipts are being used to fuel a pre-election giveaway in a return to “reckless, pre-crash budgetary strategies.”
In a statement ICTU said the Government’s approach to this year’s budget risks placing a future tax burden on younger workers, while undermining Ireland’s capacity to improve future public services.
ICTU said measures designed to stimulate housing with a range of tax breaks seemed “particularly perverse as it will simply push house prices even higher,” while “throwing money from tax cuts into an economy at full capacity will simply raise prices and ultimately erode the gains from the tax cuts.”
In a Budget response broadcast on Newstalk radio on Tuesday, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan joined ICTU in welcoming the increase in the minimum wage, marking further progress toward the Government’s commitment to introduce the National Living wage (60% of hourly median wages) by January 2026.
Kevin also welcomed confirmation that pension auto-enrolment would commence in September next year, after prolonged uncertainty, and said the minimum wage increase and pension auto-enrolment are important improvements, especially for younger workers.
He added that health services continue to struggle due to suppressed posts in health services, and that major infrastructure challenges remain. He said the budget focused largely on short- and medium-term gains, and that this was to be expected in anticipation of a general election.
He also backed ICTU’s call for collective bargaining measures, as required by the full implementation of the EU Adequate Minimum Wages Directive.
ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy said that while additional infrastructure spending was welcome, it remained unclear if the Government has a strategy to encourage the supply of needed construction workers: “There will need to be much greater emphasis on funding for apprenticeships as well as better terms and conditions in the sector if we are to solve the housing crisis,” he said.
The inaugural SNA Appreciation Day, spearheaded by Fórsa’s four SNA branches, has been hailed as a huge success, with schools across the country celebrating the wonderful work of their SNAs.
The inaugural SNA Appreciation Day, spearheaded by Fórsa’s four SNA branches, has been hailed as a huge success. What began as a simple idea in a social media chat—where a member questioned why there was a Teacher Appreciation Day but nothing that recognized the role of special needs assistants—has blossomed into a national conversation about how society views and treats these essential workers. Watch our highlights video here, or below.
The day clearly struck a chord, with hundreds of photos of activities flooding social media, and the associated hashtag #ThankOurSNAs going viral and trending.
Scoil Mhaodhoig Poulfur, Wexford
Fórsa General Secretary, Kevin Callinan, spent the morning at St. Joseph’s School in Tallaght, where he met with staff and said:
“Firstly, we're so pleased that SNAs are part of our union. You can't imagine just how happy we are. When we were setting up the Education Division, many years ago, I was at a meeting of SNAs, and I'll never forget it. One of your colleagues stood up and said, ‘Kevin, it's not about money. It's about respect.’ And I listened to that and I'm so proud of the fact that together over the last two years, we've made such positive steps forward.”
He continued “We're not fully there yet. Today is about building on the first ever Appreciation Day. We had almost 11,000 applications for the prizes. The response is beyond anything we expected and rightly so, it is only right we thank our SNAs.”
Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana
Casa Caterina is a special school in Cabra nestled away behind a flank of trees on the old Dominican Sister's campus. Autumn leaves falling and torrents of rain did little to dampen school spirits as news broke that they were one of the winning schools. North Dublin North Leinster (NDNL) SNA branch members Maria Burke and Christina Scott arrived to present a prize to the busy SNAs on a short break between classes.
Christina, vice-chair of the NDNL SNA Branch, expressed the importance of individual SNA’s feeling pride in themselves, no matter what else was going down in their schools: “They should appreciate themselves and be very proud of the jobs that they do within their schools.”
Scoil Bernadette, Montenotte
Casa Caterina is a special school for children with either a diagnosis of severe emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) or a diagnosis of autism. The school has various facilities to support children’s growth and development, including sensory areas both inside and outside. It also hosts a nurture room, staffed by a dedicated and trained team, offering short-term focused interventions to address non-cognitive issues that may block learning.
Principal Emma Kilcommins beamed as she proudly shared that the school has 17 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). Vice Principal Lorna Cahill, spoke passionately about the incredible role they play in the school:
"We have 17 SNAs, and they are the backbone of our school. They are amazing—dedicated, involved, and incredibly supportive of the children, day in and day out. We are so grateful to have such skilled professionals. It's especially important for special schools like ours, where teaching staff can feel isolated. Having a day dedicated to recognizing the amazing work they do, both here and nationwide, is essential."
Ardfinnan National School, Clonmel
Principal Kilcommins echoed this sentiment with enthusiasm:
"It’s about time they’re recognized and celebrated for the professionals they are. The national recognition through a professional program is so important because SNAs are absolutely vital, skilled, and professional individuals."
Noreen O’Mahony, chair of the Education division of Fórsa had a long day meeting members to celebrate their work and activities. Starting in Limerick and then heading to Loughrea before finishing up at Bennekerry National School in Carlow, where she arrived wielding congratulatory balloons and boxes of donuts to mark the occasion at a celebration in the staff room.
Bennekerry NS is a co-educational primary school is located five kilometres east of Carlow town and was also one of the competition winners. It has 425 pupils and a staff of 23 teachers.
Muslim National School, Clonskeagh
Julie Fitzmaurice, the principal in Carlow, shared: “We’re exceptionally lucky because of the work of our SNAs and the expertise that they have, around the school, for the most vulnerable learners and the most vulnerable children, I think as a staff, we really appreciate them, and the parents really appreciate them. School wouldn't be the same without them. So, I want to really to thank them.”
Reflecting on SNA Appreciation Day, Noreen said: “I think SNAs should be very proud of themselves. We're a cohort of professionals and we need to see ourselves as that. It’s not a role that you just fall into, it’s something people seek out to do. We are an integral part of the school community. To continue to build that recognition even from the Department of Education, we're doing contract review talks at the moment.”
Until recently school secretaries could not avail of deduction at source because they were employed directly by schools, and schools often lack the resources available to allow for deduction at source payment of union membership fees.
Fórsa is setting up deduction at source (DAS) payments for school secretaries who have signed up to move from bank standing order (BSO) to deduction at source payment of union membership subscriptions.
Fórsa is calling on school secretaries who have yet to sign up to do so as soon as possible.
Deduction at source means that a member’s employer will take care of collecting union subscriptions and sending them to Fórsa, so members do not need to set up bank standing orders themselves.
Until recently school secretaries could not avail of deduction at source because they were employed directly by schools, and schools often lack the resources available to allow for deduction at source payment of subs. As a result, school secretaries have mainly paid union membership subs by bank standing order up until now.
The successful campaign for school secretaries to be paid by the Department of Education has an additional benefit because school secretaries can now switch to deduction at source payments, which is the norm for most Fórsa members who are public servants.
Bank standing order payments put the responsibility for payment on a member’s shoulders. As fees are based on a percentage of salary this method can also make it more likely that a member is not paying the correct subscription rate. This could mean a member is not entitled to representation, union services, and member benefits when they need them. It also creates the possibility of a member missing a payment and their membership lapsing as a consequence.
Deduction at source payment means the Department of Education will work out how much each member pays, subtract that directly from a member’s pay, and send the payment to Fórsa.
Chair of the school secretaries branch Luisa Carty said: “Moving to DAS will assist our branch in securing our regular revenue and help us with building our finances to keep organising and campaigning on the things that matter to you.”
“We plan to use the subs you give us, to keep you informed about what’s happening as we move forward with the campaign to win public service status, pensions, and annual leave. We will continue to organise local meetings, produce campaign material, and keep fighting and winning for our members!”
“For some members, moving to DAS might mean a small increase in their monthly subscription. That’s because the 0.8% or €0.80 cent per €100 of wages that we collect will be based on the improved annual salary that we’ve won for our members.”
Seán McElhinney, Fórsa’s head of membership, said “By moving to deduction at source payment of subs we want to make life easier for our school secretaries. Not only will be easier for members it will also benefit the school secretaries branch. The membership team is here to support this transition and can answer any queries members may have.”
Members who have already signed up for deduction at source payment of subs now are advised to cancel their bank standing order payment as soon as possible to avoid double payment. If you have already signed up, you will receive an email reminding you to cancel their bank standing order payment to avoid double payment.
Members who may have made a double payment due to uncancelled bank standing order are advised to contact the union for a refund.
More information on Fórsa subscription rates can be found here.
The Fórsa Youth AGM will take place on Friday 18th October in the union’s headquarters. Members under age 35 are invited to get more involved in the union.
The Fórsa Youth Annual General Meeting (AGM) is set to take place on Friday 18th October in the union’s Nerney’s Court office in Dublin from 10.30am to 3.00pm, and we’re encouraging all young members to get involved.
The AGM will be open to members, under the age of 35, who have been nominated by their branch. Each branch may nominate a maximum of one voting youth representative under the age of 35 to attend meetings of the National Youth Network, and branches may send additional non-voting representatives to meetings.
The Fórsa Youth Network aims to strengthen and empower younger members by providing an open, equal and respectful space for young members to discuss matters relevant to them, while respecting the contributions of every member.
A steering committee will be elected at the AGM and will be charged with the orderly running of all Network activities. More information on the Network can be found here.
If your branch does not have a youth representative, the branch chairperson or secretary can put forward a nomination by emailing their name and details to youthcommittee@forsa.ie.
For further information, or if you would like to get involved, contact youthcommittee@forsa.ie for more details.
Although there were many furrowed brows when Fórsa decided to join the exhibitors at the Ploughing Championships this year, it would prove a great success.
The usual muck and wellies at Ratheniska were swapped for ice creams and sun lotion as the late summer sun bathed the hills of Laois. Fórsa, Ireland’s second-largest trade union and the largest representing public service workers, was among the 1,700 exhibitors at this year’s National Ploughing Championships. This marked Fórsa’s first time ever exhibiting at the event, which drew nearly a quarter of a million visitors.
Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said: “So many in the agricultural sector are in employment, either full-time or part-time. We need to support those workers. We're here to brief our own members. 2% of the Irish population are members of Fórsa, and we're also here to support our members who are working at the ploughing.”
Khalid El Busaidy from Fórsa’s membership team, who had been busy preparing for the event, shared his excitement about engaging with members of the farming community:
“Being here is a way of increasing our visibility in the farming community that might have people working in various government departments, especially the Department of Agriculture.
Khalid added “It’s a way of connecting with members and making sure that they can see our visibility and also pass on the message to us. Fórsa trade union is here, and we represent their community, and, you know, their family members—many of them would be working in sectors that we represent.”
Speaking at the event Fórsa president Martin Walsh noted the importance of the union’s membership benefits saying: “We have a substantial range of benefits for our membership. We have in-service critical injury cover. We have access to cheaper car and children's health insurance and other benefits like travel and health insurance. There are many, many benefits to being in a trade union."
Fórsa senior vice president Julie Flood cracked a pun that adorned the walls of the Fórsa stand:
“We can’t protect you from the muck, but we can protect you from your boss. You're never alone when you're in a union, especially if you're with Fórsa. Fórsa always has your back. We ensure certainty, parity, accuracy, and fairness for our workers in the workplace. So we have your back. We're always there with you.”
Julie also shared her own personal journey of empowerment through the union:
“But apart from all of that, one of the biggest benefits for me from becoming an activist in Fórsa trade union was it has brought me along so much in my life personally and in my work life.
They've offered me training programs. I became part of a big family that has nurtured me to be the person that I am. I no longer fear speaking out in the workplace. I actually feel that I have a very important role in the workplace and that I need to speak out because not everyone is able to.”
Flood offered encouragement to new and prospective Fórsa members:
“My advice will always be never be afraid to stick your toe in the water. You can put your toe in, or you can stick your whole leg in. For me, I started off with very small tasks, and I loved what I saw. I loved the benefits, I loved the wins, I loved how it actually helped people, and that really empowered me to take a step further where you don't have to go."
Fórsa’s treasurer Micheal Smith spoke about the power of collective union action:
“Union membership is about more than just individual issues. Although individual issues, of course, are dealt with, it's also about the collective, such as national pay agreements and local bargaining with employers in a particular workplace, where everybody has a stake in the outcome.”
He emphasized the benefits of a strong union voice, particularly in recent national pay negotiations:
“And we can see from our recent national pay agreements, in particular, the advantage of having a strong voice at those negotiations. And our goal is to make our voice stronger because it's important that workers' voices are properly represented when our representatives in the union movement meet with government.”
