Fórsa is inviting members to apply to its third-level grant support scheme, which gives limited financial assistance to those undertaking certified educational courses – up to third level – that will assist them in carrying out their union representative role.

Applicants, who must be fully paid-up Fórsa members, can only apply by completing the approved application form. They must also have the support of their own Fórsa branch.

The scheme does not cover courses designed to enhance professional or career development unless they also improve a member’s ability to act as a Fórsa rep. The closing date for applications is 5.30pm on Friday 27th September 2019.

Full details of the application requirements and available supports can be found HERE.

The approved application form is available HERE.

Most staff in the education sector will see their pay increase by 1.75% from this month. The increase, which takes effect from 1st September, was negotiated by Fórsa as part of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).

However, the increase does not apply to staff – including many school secretaries – who are not directly employed by the Department of Education and Skills.

This is the second PSSA pay adjustment to be implemented this year. The pay of education staff who earn less than €30,000 a year went up by 1% in January, while those earning over €30,000 benefited from a reduced contribution to the 'additional superannuation contribution,’ which replaced the so-called ‘pension levy’ under the PSSA.

There were also two increases - each worth 1% - in 2018. Next year will see a further adjustment in the additional superannuation contribution in January, and a 2% pay increase is due in October. The PSSA expires at the end of 2020.

The union is currently updating the pay scales on the Fórsa website.

School secretaries are to take industrial action over the education department’s refusal to address a two-tier pay system that leaves most earning just €12,500 a year. The majority also have irregular short-term contracts that force them to sign on during the summer holidays and other school breaks.

Earlier this week, Fórsa announced that the workers involved had backed industrial action by a margin of 94% to 6% in a national ballot conducted over the summer. The turnout was 68%.

The action will commence from 20th September, when school secretaries will engage in a short work stoppage at the start of the school day. Thereafter they will commence a significant work to rule.

The secretaries will withdraw from work on public service systems and databases as they are not recognised as public servants. They will also refuse to carry out the functions of public servants.

The action is expected to cause significant disruption to the administration of the schools sector without affecting students or parents.

Fórsa went to ballot after talks broke down earlier in the summer. The union says education department officials refused to discuss proposals to overcome a two-tier pay system that’s been in place for more than four decades.

Union officials who attended the negotiations had hoped to discuss the substance of Fórsa’s claim for pay justice. But departmental officials refused to engage and instead proposed further work on costing the claim – despite having presented detailed cost estimates to an Oireachtas committee in April this year.

The problem is rooted in an antiquated and discriminatory pay regime, foisted upon school secretaries in 1978. It discriminates between a minority who are directly-employed by the education department, and have public service employment status, and a majority who are hired by school management boards, which determine their pay and conditions.

School secretary Kathleen O’Doherty said around 90% of our school secretaries were locked out of the regularised pay system. “They have low pay, no holiday pay, no sick pay, no real job security, certainly no occupational pensions, and no access to public service salary scales.

“It’s time this antiquated and discriminatory employment arrangement was scrapped, and replaced with a model that reflects the vast range of responsibilities and tasks school secretaries perform,” she said.

Last weekend, the union held demonstrations in Dublin, Athlone and Donegal, where protesters gathered outside the office of education minister Joe McHugh.

Fórsa has agreed the establishment of a dedicated SNA industrial relations forum with the Department of Education. The establishment of the forum follows a series of representations by the union over the last year.

Its establishment means Fórsa now has a dedicated forum for claims to improve or repair SNA terms and conditions. Prior to this each issue had to be dealt with on an ad-hoc basis.

SNAs will be represented at the forum by their elected representatives and Fórsa officials. The first meeting is set to take place next month.

Assistant General Secretary Seán Carabini explained: “This is a very important step forward for SNAs as we finally have a dedicated place to bring collective issues. Elected branch representatives from Fórsa’s four SNA branches will work with union officials to establish the issues that need to be brought to the forum.

“This means the department will hear about the issues of concern directly from SNAs themselves, and these will be issues that would not normally feature in national pay talks. There are a lot of particular issues that SNAs want addressed. Now, we finally have the right forum to address them,” he said.

A workshop focussed on developing a national campaign to abolish higher education fees and promote greater inclusion at third-level was hosted by Fórsa late last month.

The Coalition for Publicly Funded Higher Education began to make preparations for campaigning on the issue in a general election, which is widely expected to be held next year.

Fórsa is among the members of the coalition, which is made up of trade unions and second and third level student unions. Lead organiser Kevin Donoghue said the workshop aimed to encourage greater campaign activity on campuses and at a grass roots level.

“The coalition has been working to advocate for reforms on a national level in the last few years. The purpose of this workshop is to increase the emphasis on campaigning at a local level in colleges across the country.

“We are strongly of the opinion that this duel approach to lobbying parties and individual candidates in the next general election on reforms is crucial to getting the message across that these reforms need to be implemented to address several years of underinvestment in the higher education system.

"Fundamental changes are needed to help students, current and future, who are struggling with the increasing cost of attending third-level education,” he said.

The workshop was co-ordinated by Gráinne Healy, a co-director of the campaign for marriage equality and YES Equality.

Focus Ireland and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) have jointly produced a resource for primary school staff who support students and families experiencing homelessness.

The document aims to highlight the impact homelessness has on children’s education. It also outlines steps that schools can take to help alleviate the stress and practical difficulties that homeless children experience.

Fórsa’s head of education, Andy Pike, commended the publication, saying it’s not just relevant for teachers and principals.

“SNAs and school secretaries have a close, personal bond with students and their families, which means they are often the first to learn that a child is experiencing homelessness. This resource is an important tool for all school staff to help them ensure children get the best possible education and are supported at a personal level,” he said.

Child homelessness has increased by nearly 400% in the last five years according to Focus Ireland. There are currently over 3,770 children experiencing homelessness.

INTO president Feargal Brougham said he did not foresee the need to produce a document like this when he first qualified as a teacher 30 years ago. “The idea that almost 4,000 children would be homeless was an alien one decades ago. It is a repugnant reality today,” he said.

Practical tips in the document include making nutritious snacks available in the school, particularly if there is no access to breakfast clubs or school meals.

Providing extra opportunities for physical activity is also suggested to help alleviate the impact of not having access to recreational facilities after school.

For more information, see the full report HERE.

Fórsa is urging its members to support the ‘global climate strike,’ an international protest in support of action on climate change that’s planned for Friday 20th September.

The initiative, spearheaded by the Irish and international students behind recent school strikes for climate action, will involve demonstrations and other initiatives around the country in what the organisers expect to be the largest ever worldwide mobilisation for action on the climate crisis.

The union is urging members to support major lunchtime protests in Cork and Dublin (details below) or, where possible, to take leave to travel to attend. There are also events planned for over 60 towns in ten counties across the country. You can find your closest local event using this live map.

If there’s no event currently planned in your local area, you can sign up to create your own one HERE. A team of volunteers is available to help people organise an event, and you can contact Fórsa campaigns director Joe O’Connor to access this support.

“We are encouraging members to join in one of the demonstrations around the country during their lunch break. We’re also encouraging those who can’t get to a demonstration to organise an action in their workplace. This could be a meeting, a stand, a workplace photo for use on social media or an approach to management,” said Joe.

Although they use the word ‘strike’ to describe the day of action, the organisers explicitly acknowledge that many workers are not able to take formal strike action for legal or other reasons. This is the situation in Ireland, where the law precludes industrial action unless it relates to a ‘trade dispute’ between an employer and its employees.

Fórsa has responded to the organisers’ call for workers in such circumstances to add their voice to the demand for climate action in other ways.

Dublin demonstration: Assemble at the Fórsa banner in Merrion Square at 1pm. If you are able, you can join the march at 12 noon at the Custom House and march to Merrion Square.

Cork demonstration: Assemble at the Fórsa banner at 12pm at the bottom of Grand Parade.

You can find your closest local event using this live map.

Contact Joe O’Connor for information or assistance from Fórsa.

Get more information on the Global Climate Strike HERE.

Fórsa’s new general secretary has expressed frustration at the Government’s handling of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), and says there is a risk of the agreement unravelling unless there is urgent action to address its weaknesses.

Kevin Callinan, who took over as general secretary of the 80,000-strong union in July, said problems he had raised in March had yet to be resolved. This despite informal talks with senior officials in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) over recent weeks.

He said the PSSA, which delivered a fourth pay adjustment of 1.75% this month was coming under pressure.

Kevin said a process for addressing profession-specific and grade-specific pay issues across the civil and public service should be put in place quickly. He called for this to be done with a view to reaching agreement in each area by the end of next March, so that talks on a successor to the PSSA could deal with the outcomes.

The PSSA is due to conclude at the end of 2020, which means negotiations would have to begin in the middle of next year in time for any proposed successor to be put to ballots of the various unions’ members.

Kevin said Fórsa’s Consultative Council, which is made up of representatives of all the union’s branches, would meet next month to consider developments.

“If there is still no progress at that stage, I envisage the union authorising the preparation of claims for the various grades, groups and categories, and developing an industrial strategy to progress them.

“We would be in an untenable situation if the instability around the PSSA continues to drift – one that would demand a significant shift in Fórsa’s emphasis, with potentially serious implications for the future of the agreement,” he said.

Women's pensions are up to 35% lower than those of retired men, according to research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

Its new report, Gender, Pensions and Income in Retirement, found that 55% of retired men have a private or occupational pension, compared to just 28% of women.

And it says the gender pension gap is also fuelled by the fact that, on average, women spend less time in the workforce than men.

The report recommends a range of policies to improve female pension coverage and encourage more continuity in employment.

Fórsa official Billy Hannigan said the report was an important contribution to the discussion on pension reform. “It underlines the need for auto-enrolment so that occupational pensions are open to all workers. Better child and elder care supports are also needed to address the gender pension gap,” he said.

Mr Hannigan added it was important to highlight the effect that taking time off work has on pension entitlements. “This has implications for women’s private and occupational pensions, and their service duration in terms of entitlements for public and State pensions.”

The report also noted that women with higher educational attainments were less likely to be effected by the gender pension gap.

Further information is available HERE and the full report can be found HERE.

The Supreme Court has confirmed that employers have a duty to provide ‘reasonable accommodation’ for employees with a disability. In other words, they must make reasonable adjustments to the workplace, work organisation or equipment to ensure that staff members with disabilities can continue to work.

Fórsa welcomed the ruling, in which the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal in a specific case, and referred it back to the Labour Court for determination.

The court also provided clarification on how the law in relation to reasonable accommodation should be applied, saying employers’ duty to provide reasonable accommodation should be ascribed a broad ambit.

In particular, it said that the primary obligation of an employer is to take appropriate measures, where required, to enable the employee to continue in employment. That duty includes an obligation to consider relieving the employee of duties they cannot perform, with the extent of this being assessed in each case by an adjudication officer with appeal to the Labour Court.

The court said that the duty to provide reasonable accommodation does not extend to an obligation to create an entirely new job, but said a reorganised job is not necessarily a new job.

It also said a “wise employer” would consult with their employee before making decisions about their future employment, though this was not a legal requirement.

It noted that making reasonable accommodation should not impose a disproportionate financial or other burden on the employer, but said this should take account of available State supports.

Fórsa official Billy Hannigan said the decision brought clarity to the application of the law. “The fact that the emphasis in any case will be on the individual circumstances of each person is a positive result, and a win for the union and for the rights of people with disabilities in the workplace,” he said.

Billy also welcomed Justice Peter Charleton’s statement that it’s not “particularly useful to see disability as medical in nature. A person with a disability remains a person, an individual with human dignity who is required to be treated as such.”

Fórsa is asking union branches and members to get involved in a fresh approach to resettling refugee families in communities across Ireland. The union is backing a new ‘community sponsorship’ initiative, which helps local communities to take responsibility for giving financial and other supports to refugee families from war-torn areas.

Community Sponsorship Ireland brings together a number of organisations including the Irish Red Cross, the Refugee Council, the UN Refugee Agency, Amnesty International, University College Dublin and the migrant and refugee centre NASC. Fórsa is now a member of its advisory board.

The union is seeking expressions of interest from branches and individual members who are interested in getting involved in the initiative. Its campaigns director Joe O’Connor hopes that a number of members, and at least one branch, will be willing to take part in a pilot phase by the end of this year.

Community sponsorship is an alternative to the traditional state-centred model of refugee placement. Its community-based approach helps refugee families to access social and professional networks in their new host communities, and introduces them to local state services, amenities, education and language resources.

Joe said the partnership offered a positive opportunity to make a lasting difference to people’s lives.

“Fórsa’s presence in communities across the country, our links with other organisations, and the breadth of knowledge, skills and occupations within our membership makes us a perfect organisation to make a contribution to the success of community sponsorship in Ireland,” he said.

For more information on Fórsa’s partnership, or to express an interest in getting involved, please contact joconnor@forsa.ie. Get more information on the programme HERE.

A pre-budget submission, calling for increased funding for public services and measures to alleviate the housing crisis has been published by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

The paper, “Building a shared and sustainable future,” recommends greater healthcare and education funding, the establishment of a public affordable housebuilding scheme, greater investment in a just climate transition, and the establishment of a Brexit adjustment fund.

It argues that increased public spending is necessary to enhance infrastructure, while warning that tax cuts could result in overheating and harm the economy in the long-run.

It also suggests several progressive measures to raise revenue and fund greater public service investment. These include raising employers PSRI on incomes over €100,000, reforms to capital accusation tax, a higher excise tax on diesel, and a new tax on single use plastics.

The paper cites a number of risks to the Irish economy including Brexit, the climate crisis, precarious work and inequality and the housing and homelessness emergencies.

Other recommended measures include addressing Ireland’s two-tier health system, enhancements to planned pension reforms, and a greater policy emphases on Irish small and medium businesses, rather than US multinationals.

Read the submission HERE.

Fórsa has welcomed a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudication, which found that rental adverts on the property website daft.ie were discriminatory. The WRC said the ads discriminated on the grounds of housing status, age and family status.

The decision, which follows a three-year legal action by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), has likely implications for other Irish platforms hosting discriminatory content.

The case, which was taken under the Equal Status Act, concerned adverts that featured terms like “rent allowance not accepted,” “suit family or professionals only,” “would suit young professionals,” and “references required.”

Fórsa equality officer Andy Pike said the decision vindicated the rights of prospective tenants.

“We are especially pleased to note the inclusion of a prohibition on adverts stating that prospective tenants on rent supplement or other benefits will not be accepted by landlords. This highlights the risks faced by those on low incomes who may be at more risk of homelessness because of landlords’ discrimination,” he said.

The full text of the decision is available HERE.

A new campaign for the introduction of hate crime legislation in Ireland has been launched by the European Network Against Racism Ireland (ENAR), of which Fórsa is a member.

The ‘love not hate’ initiative will petition the Government to introduce hate crime legislation, while encouraging people to report racist and other hate-fuelled attacks. Its petition has already gained over 8,000 signatures.

Ireland is currently one of the few European Union countries not to have any form of legislation to address hate crime, which is usually defined as a crime, typically involving violence, which is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds.

Fórsa equality officer Billy Hannigan remarked on the timeliness of the initiative.

“It’s very appropriate in the current climate of increased racially-fuelled hate attacks in Ireland that this campaign is gaining momentum. The union is proud to support ‘love not hate’ and we hope members will not only sign the petition, but also publicise the campaign online and in their workplace,” he said.

Click HERE to sign the petition and HERE for more information on the campaign.

Fórsa is to play a lead role in the Irish leg of an international campaign for a four-day working week, which will be launched in Dublin later this month. The launch event will feature contributions from Irish and New Zealand-based employers who have successfully implemented four-day working arrangements for their staff.

The campaign will outline the economic, societal, environmental, personal and other benefits that could arise from the adoption of shorter working time, in all sectors of the economy, in the context of technological change and new forms of work organisation.

The Dublin launch will include contributions from Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, Friends of the Earth, and the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Aileen O’Carroll of Maynooth University will also present a report on the issue.

But the highlight of the day is likely to be Andrew Barnes, founder of New Zealand financial advice company Perpetual Guardian, which won international acclaim when it introduced a four-day week for its 250 staff last year. The Galway-based company ICE, which has also successfully introduced a four-day week, will also contribute.

A new alliance aimed at improving vaccination rates and reducing vaccine hesitancy has been launched by health minister Simon Harris. The Vaccine Alliance, which hopes to encourage greater uptake of childhood vaccines, will be comprised of healthcare professionals, policy makers, patient advocates, students and people from groups most affected by vaccine hesitancy.

Launching the initiative, Harris challenged social media platforms to decide “which side they are on” in the vaccine debate. He said they should consider closing accounts and web pages that spread false information about the so-called ‘dangers’ of vaccinations.

“These platforms can be a powerful tool for good, or they can be a vehicle for falsehoods and lies, and they need to decide what side they want to be on,” he said.

There were roughly 1,000 additional cases of mumps this year compared to last, and more than 50 cases of measles. “It shows the need for this alliance to push back against vaccine hesitancy,” said Harris.

On the positive side, a concerted public campaign based on evidence-based information has pushed HPV vaccine rates up from 51% to 70% in a short period of time.

Fórsa’s head of communications Bernard Harbor welcomed the move as an important public health initiative. “The establishment of the alliance will help boost the uptake of childhood vaccination, an essential public health measure that has been undermined by reckless misinformation in recent times,” he said.

An adjustment fund and a retraining programme for workers likely to be affected by Brexit are needed to minimise the potential damage of a no-deal Brexit, according to a new report by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

Preparing for Brexit: ICTU proposals to support jobs and workers also recommend establishing a short-time work scheme to preserve jobs, and a Brexit adjustment assistance fund to upskill and retrain at-risk workers. It also says the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund must be able to support workers made redundant on foot of Brexit.

Meanwhile, British unions that represent healthcare workers have warned of disruption to supplies of medicine, particularly drugs for cancer diagnosis and therapies that can’t be stockpiled.

The unions say Brexit poses threats to workers and patients in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), and that a no-deal exit would likely effect funding for under-pressure services. They also fear that EU nationals working in the NHS could be left in limbo.

In a separate development, staff and representatives of both Fórsa and Siptu took part in a demonstration outside the British embassy in Dublin last week. Organised by Britons living in Ireland, the protest was against the proroguing of the Westminster parliament and the implications of a no-deal Brexit for Britain and Ireland.

You can find more on ICTU’s Brexit report HERE, and more on the TUC health unions’ statement HERE.

The Fórsa global solidarity conference is scheduled to take place in the union’s Nerney’s Court office in Dublin on the evening of Friday 15th and Saturday 16th November.

The event will feature top speakers on issues like Brexit, climate change and solidarity with Columbia and Palestine.

The event will be a mixture of guest speakers, panel discussions and debates. Further details, including information about registration, will issue soon.