School secretaries: Detailed talks to begin
by Bernard Harbor
 
Fórsa intends to hold a ballot on the new agreement to allow for implementation of the new arrangements at the start of the next school year.
Fórsa intends to hold a ballot on the new agreement to allow for implementation of the new arrangements at the start of the next school year.

Fórsa will return to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) later this month for further discussions on the implementation of an agreement on the pay, working conditions and pensions of school secretaries and caretakers, which the union secured last October after a decades-long campaign.

 

The WRC process was put in place after Fórsa and the education department agreed a ‘roadmap’ to progress the changes. The talks are expected to end a decades-old system, which currently leaves most school secretaries earning just €12,500 a year, with irregular short-term contracts that force them to sign on during the summer holidays and other school breaks.

 

That breakthrough came after the Government confirmed its intention to regularise pay, working conditions and pension provision for school secretaries and caretakers. But both sides acknowledged that detailed discussions were required to reach an agreement acceptable to all stakeholders.

 

The first phase of the current process will focus on the best way to transfer staff to appropriate public service pay scales. A progress report will issue to members after this round of talks.

 

Fórsa intends to hold a ballot on the new agreement to allow for implementation of the new arrangements at the start of the next school year.

 

In order to maximise the benefits of the new agreement, Fórsa is to create a new national branch for school caretakers. It will be launched through a national recruitment and organising campaign once schools fully reopen next month.

 

Every school caretaker who is not in a union will be asked to join Fórsa in order to strengthen our position in the negotiations. Information packs will be sent to caretakers across the schools sector informing staff of this development and inviting them to join the union and play a role in the formation of the new branch.

 

It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE

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