Work to mobilise school communities behind school secretaries and caretakers, who have been historically locked out of their basic pension rights, continues.  As a new Dáil attempted to elect a Taoiseach this week, thousands of people were piling on the pressure calling on politicians to sign a pledge to back pension justice in schools.  To date 8900 signatures of support have been pledged.

Andy Pike, national secretary of the Education division urged people to get behind the digital mobilisation. “Right now, we’re asking all the school secretaries and caretakers to send emails to their local TDs before they get too comfortable in the Dáil chamber. We’ve sent around template emails and mailing lists for you to use – but feel free to edit them too - and don’t hold back, let them know how this affects your life. Next week we will contact all school principals because their support is crucial.”

This is the latest phase in the ongoing campaign. Back in December, Fórsa school secretaries and caretakers brought their pension parity campaign directly to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). 

The tongue in cheek protest saw a letter delivered by members and a Santa hat wearing Andy Pike. Despite the festive frolics, the demand for a Single Public Service Pension Scheme for members left out in the cold was clear. 

Shane Lambert of Fórsa’s Education division was quick to point out the historical peculiarity behind the pension farce saying, “It’s a hangover from a bygone era and it’s time it went out in the bin”.  

The campaign kicked off with a packed event in Nerney’s Court in late November.  Multiple members outlined the impact of not having a pension despite being directly employed by the Department of Education.  

Rena McGrath and Orla Greaney are school secretaries who’ve worked together for more than 20 years in Galway but are treated totally differently by the department.  

“I work alongside Orla. We share an office and we share all the duties involved in working in our roles as school secretaries. Unfortunately, the Department chooses to ignore Orla’s needs when it comes to parity and fairness. This is not equality for my peers, and this is what we are fighting to change,” explained a frustrated Rena. 

In the 2024 OECD Education at a Glance report Ireland came rock bottom out of 34 countries for spending on second-level education in 2021. Investing only 0.9 per cent of its GDP in second-level education compared to OECD and EU averages of 1.9 per cent. 

“We’ve a massive underfunding problem in our schools,” said Shane.  “Most of which are run on a shoestring with our caretakers literally keeping buildings from falling into total disrepair with the proceeds of cake sales and parent ran raffles. We are talking about extremely resourceful people, often working with little to no budgets, who quite literally keep the roof from falling in.” 

Andy Pike explained how organisers on the ground have always known there was a lot of support for the case being made by the union. 

“We know there is a lot of sympathy out there, and for this phase of the campaign we are turning that into active expressions of solidarity via the pledge.  It’s a way of us demonstrating the huge swell of support for the demands of the campaign,” explained Andy.  

“People who spend their lives in the service of education should not have to worry about how to pay the heating bills or if can they visit their grandchildren abroad,” he said. 

You can show your support by signing our pledge online here. 

Join a union that wins. Join Fórsa.