Fórsa has demanded immediate consultation on Government plans to pilot changes in funding and other arrangements for the delivery of the service, which were announced by education minister Joe McHugh last week. The union says SNAs fear the announcement could give the green light for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and individual schools to impose new and untested arrangements without consultation.

Fórsa official Andy Pike said consultation on changes that impact on working conditions is obligatory under the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA). “The service implications of any changes should also be the subject of consultation with SNAs and other stakeholders prior to implementation,” he added.

Andy gave a cautious welcome to a proposed national SNA training programme, which is included in the proposals announced on 27th March. This could see progress on a longstanding aspiration for SNAs.

He also said that plans to frontload allocations could reduce the incidence of precarious employment experienced by many SNAs.

And he restated the union’s willingness to work with the education department, the NCSE and schools to improve the service that thousands of SNAs provide to children with special needs each school day. “But this needs to be implemented following proper consultation with SNAs and other stakeholders, who need to see more detail before a properly informed view can be established,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fórsa has been in discussions with the education department about the lack of consultation over speech and language therapy pilots in the special education field. SNAs are refusing to cooperate with the initiative pending clarification of the department’s position.

In a separate move, the union has also queried requests to some SNAs to insert catheters even though they haven’t been adequately trained.

Union representatives finally met education department officials last month to discuss the implementation of a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) recommendation, which backed Fórsa’s case for a job evaluation scheme in technological universities and institutes of technology.

The union has since sent detailed proposals on how the scheme should be designed and managed, in advance of another meeting scheduled for later this month.

The March meeting followed lengthy delays from the management side. It also involved the Technological Higher Education Association, which represents employers in the sector, and Mary Immaculate College.

Fórsa suspended industrial action on the issue following successful talks at the WRC last October. The WRC discussions resulted in an agreement on a job evaluation scheme for library, clerical, administrative and support staff in higher education.

Fórsa representatives will meet the Fine Gael parliamentary party this week to make the case for fair pay and pension provision for school secretaries and caretakers. The union, which has already met all the other major parties as part of its ‘Support Our Secretaries’ campaign, will also appear at the Oireachtas joint education committee next week.

In a recent submission to the committee, Fórsa said that most school secretaries are very poorly paid, with uncertain short-term contracts that force many of them to sign on during the summer holidays. The majority of school secretaries and caretakers are paid from ancillary grants and are not deemed to be public servants.

The union also highlighted the wide range of duties carried out by school secretaries. These include completing pay and pension returns for teachers, and undertaking many tasks necessary to ensure that teaching staff receive holiday pay, sick pay and other public service conditions of service.

Read the union submission to the Oireachtas committee HERE.

Fórsa’s membership in the education sector has increased from 10,650 to 11,770 – a rise of over 10% - over the last two years. The data is included in the union’s Education Division Report 2017-2019, which has been published in advance of its education conference later this month.

The report also highlights the range of policy interventions and industrial relations progress that the union has made in the sector over the last two years.

It pays tribute to Fórsa Senior General Secretary Designate Kevin Callinan who, in February, “relinquished responsibility for the Education Division after more than eight years during which his leadership established the division as the second largest in the former IMPACT structure and the third largest in Fórsa.”

The report updates members of the division on a wide range of issues including pay, pensions, working conditions, equal opportunities and industrial relations in various parts of the sector.

It says Fórsa has maintained excellent working relationships with a range of other trade unions in the sector, including Siptu and the teaching unions. “The INTO has been particularly receptive to the concerns of Fórsa members working in schools, and has facilitated presentations to the INTO principals and other representative bodies on matters of concern to Fórsa members,” it says.

Fórsa backed last month’s student-led demonstrations against insufficient higher education funding. The protests, which took place at college campuses around the country, called on the Government to close the deficit caused by years of underinvestment in the sector.

The protests were also backed by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and the Coalition for Publicly Funded Higher Education. Fórsa is a member of the Coalition which, last May, called for a minimum investment of €199 million to be allocated for 2019.

It said the figure was based on Fine Gael manifesto promises and the Cassells report into higher education funding, both of which said investment of €100 million a year was the minimum annual investment necessary to keep pace with demographic changes.

Gina O’Brien, who chairs Fórsa’s Education Division, said the participation of students, staff and lecturers from second and third-level institutions in the protests demonstrated the widespread dissatisfaction with funding levels in the sector in recent years.

“We are calling on the Government to address the funding issue at third level, which it has ignored for many years. While we welcome recent increases in spending in the sector, they fall far short of what is needed to address the crisis,” she said.

Last June the coalition published a survey, which showed that over 90% of people who expressed a preference backed increased investment in higher education.

Carried out by polling organisation Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A), the research found that between 54% and 70% of all age groups said they agreed strongly with the statement ‘public investment in the higher education sector should be increased,’ with support strongest among those aged below 25.

Legislation published by the Government has confirmed its intention to limit gender pay gap reporting requirements to organisations with more than 250 employees at first. But this threshold will fall to 50 – in line with union demands – after three years.

It means that just a third of employers will initially have to publish gender pay gap information when the legislation is first enacted. This will cover almost half a million people who work in firms with more than 250 staff, and the first deadline for firms to submit their pay gap data is expected to be December 2020 or January 2021.

A further 22% of the workforce will be covered once the threshold falls to 50 staff or more.

The legislation will also require reporting on differences in bonus pay, part-time pay and the pay of men and women on temporary contracts.

Fórsa has been at the forefront of the trade union campaign for legislation on gender pay gap reporting, which it says would encourage employers into tangible action to bridge the gap. But the union last year criticised the Government’s decision to delay the process by withdrawing support from a well-advanced Bill in order to produce its own legislation.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and National Women's Council have called on the Government to compel all employers to publish the gender pay gap data within a year of the legislation coming into force.

The launch of the Fórsa Disability Rights Network takes place this Saturday (6th April) at 11am at Fórsa's Nerney's Court office. The event will be opened by Finian McGrath, the Minister of State for Disability Issues.

Senior Fórsa official Andy Pike said the new network will provide a forum for members across the union to meet and discuss issues relevant to disability rights in the workplace.

“This national meeting is the second in a series of new equality networks to be established by the union’s equality committee over the coming months. The meeting will be of interest to Fórsa members living with a disability, members working to provide disability services, and activists with an interest in disability rights,” he said.

A full programme for the event, and details about how to register are available HERE.

Fórsa is hosting a screening of the film A Silent Transformation at 6pm tomorrow (Thursday 4th April) as part of the Fórsa Insights series. The documentary is about the transformative power of co-ops, and the impact they have had in communities across Ontario.

The screening, in Fórsa’s Nerney’s Court office in Dublin, will be followed by a panel discussion on the role co-ops can play in finding a solution to the housing crisis in Ireland.

Earlier on the same day, the union is hosting a seminar on climate change, and the impact that a move to a low carbon economy will have on workers in Ireland. The event, ‘A Green New Deal for Workers,’ takes place in Fórsa’s Nerney’s Court office, from 2pm to 5pm.

The event will address what a ‘green new deal’ could mean, and will explore a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon Ireland. Professor John Barry of Queens University, Belfast is the keynote speaker.

The event will also feature interactive workshops around the development of a climate information campaign for Fórsa members, the creation of a sustainability strategy for the union, and establishing a just transition committee within Fórsa.

Fórsa Insights is a series of talks and cultural events open to Fórsa members, ICTU affiliates and NGOs. The aim is to explore a range of issues including human rights, climate change, migration, homelessness and the experience of campaigning for workers rights across the globe.

There’s still time to RSVP to Joe O’Connor for either or both events. For capacity reasons, places are limited to two spaces per branch.

NCSE questionnaire

The National Council for Special Education, following on from its 2015 Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Schools policy advice to the Department of Education and Skills, has been asked to gather data towards developing new guidelines in this area.

They have now issued a public questionnaire on the subject and are seeking submissions. It's a short questionnaire, there are eight questions in total.

We would encourage all SNAs to take part in the questionnaire. This ensures that SNA views are central to any guidelines that are developed from this process.

The links to the questionnaire can be found here in Irish and English language versions (click on highlighted text).

Please complete the questionnaire and share with your SNA friends and colleagues.

Thank You.

Archived issues

Since April 2018 we've been publishing a special segment focussing on contract issues facing SNAs. Devised and written by assistant general secretary Seán Carabini, it has proved to be one of the most popular items in the Education news bulletin. 

We've archived all of these items for ease of access, and will publish an updated archive in each future edition of the bulletin.

If you have SNA contract issues you'd like to see covered in the bulletin, please contact us here and include 'SNA contract issues for the news bulletin' in the subject heading.

• Incremental progression
• Pilot Schools and Non-Cooperation
• SNAs and assault leave
• Advice on the '72 Hours' and does an SNA have a supervision function?
• How is the pay for part time hours calculated?
• Notice periods
• Panel Appeals
• Displacement: Are You Doing Someone Else’s Job?
• Standard contract for 2018/2019 school year
• SNA allocation FAQs
• The NCSE's SNA review: main points and recommendations
• Q&A: NCSE Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme
• Post fragmentation
• I was a full-time SNA but have had my hours cut. Am I entitled to any redundancy payment?

Applications are now open for the 2019 Fórsa Gaeltacht grant scheme, which will make 80 grants of €150 each available to assist children of Fórsa members attending residential Irish language courses in Gaeltacht areas this summer. A further 40 grants of €70 are available to assist children to attend day-only Irish language courses held outside Gaeltacht areas.

Children of Fórsa members, who are aged between 11 years and 18 years of age on 1st July 2019, are eligible to apply for the grant scheme. You can download the application form HERE.

Please download the form to a folder on your device prior to filling it out. If you cannot use the fillable form online then please print the form, complete it in black pen and return it to: General Services Committee, Gaeltacht Scheme, Fórsa, Nerney's Court, Dublin 1, D01 R2C5. It should arrive before 5.30pm on Monday 29th April 2019.

All queries and applications should be sent to gaeltacht@forsa.ie.

Unions have strongly criticised finance minister Paschal Donohoe for refusing to help public servants recently forced to retire at age 65, but who were retained in work on diminished pay and pension arrangements. The decision was communicated to unions last month.

The limited interim arrangements had been put in place following the Government’s 2014 decision to raise the state pension age from 65 to 66. This meant that civil and public servants who depend on the state pension for a large part of their retirement income faced a huge gap in the first year of retirement.

Many took up the temporary fix of being re-hired until they were eligible for the State pension. But those who exercised this option were placed on the first point of the non-pensionable pay scale, and were not able to make further pension contributions.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions had urged Donohoe to give the staff concerned the option of extending their 12-month retention arrangement up until age 70, and to get increments due to them during this period.

Late last year, the Government bowed to union pressure and legislated to give civil and public servants the option to remain in employment up to age 70 if they chose.

The legislation also required the finance minister to outline potential remedies, within three months, for public servants who had been forced to retire between 6th December 2017 and the commencement of the new law. But the minister has opted to do nothing for them.

“As a result we have a cohort of people who wished to extend their working life, but cannot do so simply by virtue of the date of their 65th birthday,” said Fórsa official Billy Hannigan.

Public servants recruited after 1st April 2004, but before January 2013, were not covered by the new legislation because they already either have no compulsory retirement age or the ability to retire up to age 70.

Fórsa is supporting ONE Galway’s rally on behalf of the Raise the Roof housing and homelessness campaign, which takes place in Eyre Square at 1pm on Monday 8th April.

The event will show support for a housing motion from Mayor Neil McNelis, which will be debated in Council chambers later that day. It calls for significant investment in public housing, action on evictions, rent certainty and the creation of a legal right to housing. These are all policies that Fórsa supports.

Homelessness growing faster in Galway than in any other Irish city. This growing crisis has seen over 10,000 people – workers and their family members – on the council housing list for the first time. But still the Government clings to its catastrophically-failing policy of private provision.

It’s time for a new approach, which is why Fórsa has teamed-up with homelessness organisations and other unions to demand public provision. It’s the best and quickest route to safe, secure and affordable housing for all.

That’s why the union is asking you to devote one hour of your time, at lunchtime on the 8th April, to stand in solidarity with workers, their families and all those affected by Galway’s housing and homelessness crisis.

You really can make a significant contribution to this campaign, and show real solidarity amongst the people of Galway.

Fórsa’s has become part of an alliance of over 60 civil society organisations working to ensure that Ireland keeps to its commitment to achieve sustainable development goals at home and abroad.

Coalition 2030 promotes the global development agenda for the entire world up to 2030 through a set of 17 sustainable development goals.

Niall McGuirk, Cathaoirleach of Fórsa’s Civil Service Division, put forward a motion backing the coalition at the union’s national executive last month. Writing in the latest edition of Fórsa magazine, he said the union would advocate for the implementation of these goals.

“It's not just about words, it's about actions too, small actions from each and every one of us that will help. Consider the type of world we can aspire to. A world free from poverty is goal number one. Zero hunger is goal number two, while good health and wellbeing comes next,” he writes.

Niall said a ‘Just Transition’ paper that ICTU is currently developing – and which seeks to secure workers' jobs and livelihoods while economies shift to low-carbon production – is linked to goals covering decent work, sustainable cities and communities and climate action.

ICTU Development Officer David Joyce also welcomed Fórsa’s decision to join the coalition. “Congress has been working to ensure that trade unions are aware of the goals and use them in their work. We’re delighted to welcome Fórsa as a new member of Coalition 2030, and as part of this global movement to ensure that Governments live up to their commitments,” he said.

Read more about on trade unions and Coalition 2030 HERE.

A series of events to mark the centenary of the Limerick Soviet kicks off on Friday (5th April) as the city marks 100 years since the 1919 strike, which was precipitated by the death of trade union and republican activist Robert ‘Bobby’ Byrne. The centenary programme runs until 28th April with a wide range of events.

The strike, which made international headlines, was against a permit system introduced by the British military authorities. The workers took over all aspects of the running of the city, produced their own daily paper, policed the city, controlled all food and fuel supplies and even printed its own currency.

Fórsa official and President of the Limerick Council of Trade Unions, Mike McNamara, will host a bus tour of the sites of the Limerick Soviet with Liam Cahill on Sunday 14th April.

Mike said he was delighted with the commitment of so many people to celebrate the Limerick Soviet. "It’s a very impressive programme and I’m sure the public will enjoy the many opportunities to become more familiar with this aspect of our city's history. I applaud the voluntary and community spirit of so many involved in providing Limerick with such an impressive festival of events,” he said.

Mike has written a history of the events around the Limerick Soviet which appears in the latest edition of Fórsa magazine, which is out next week.

Find out more at limericksoviet100.ie.