Fórsa’s 2025 Rewind: A year where members did it for themselves by James Redmond
This year, across workplaces and communities, members organised, applied pressure, and stood together to win real change. From headline-making strikes to quieter but no less important victories on flexibility, pay, and dignity at work, this was a year that proved a simple truth: when workers move, things shift. What follows is a rewind through a year where members did it for themselves.
1. The strike that shook the country
As the year draws to a close, the strike by school secretaries and caretakers stands out as one of the most significant moments of collective action in 2025. Long-ignored workers organised around shared issues, and Fórsa members across every county saw their union’s colours visible in cities, towns and rural communities nationwide.
Around 2,800 school secretaries and caretakers took indefinite strike action from Thursday 28th August. After seven days an agreement was secured with the Department of Education at the Workplace Relations Commission – a clear demonstration of what unity and determination can achieve.
From five mass regional rallies in places like Athlone and outside the Dáil, to isolated rural pickets in towns such as Dunmore East, the campaign was marked by creativity, resilience and momentum. New tactics emerged, including noisy protests outside politicians’ constituency offices, while morale was sustained by the warmth of friends and families, solidarity from other school workers, and constant gestures of public support from passing cars. It was a movement few anticipated, but once it began, it was everywhere.
In Dublin, more than a thousand secretaries and caretakers gathered outside the Department of Public Expenditure on the first day of the strike, demanding pensions, fair leave, and a proper pay agreement for caretakers. Their stories cut through to the wider public, winning hearts as well as headlines.
An Ireland Thinks survey confirmed the scale of public backing, underlining that this dispute was not just a victory for those on strike, but a powerful reminder of the strength of organised workers heading into the year ahead.
As things stand now, the issue has been referred to the Labour Court with the union warning that further strike action “cannot be ruled out.”
Essential link: Head over to our YouTube channel and relive those heady days of last September.
2. The battle for flexibility
Fórsa’s 2025 member survey made one thing crystal clear: workers want control - over their pay, their time, and their working lives. Members feel as strongly about work–life balance as they do about pay itself, with the top-ranked priorities being protecting hybrid and remote working (55%), securing a shorter working week with no loss of pay (54%), and safeguarding flexible hours (53%).
These concerns cut across divisions and sectors, even as remote and hybrid work is derided in some media commentary and challenged by rollbacks across parts of the civil service.
Following Fórsa’s successful pushback against an attempt to unilaterally change blended working arrangements in the Department of Social Protection in January, we asked members to share their experiences - and the response was overwhelming. We were inundated with real-world accounts of how hybrid working shapes people’s lives, supports caring responsibilities, and improves wellbeing.
For many, it remains the only positive gain to emerge from the pandemic, and they are clear they do not want to give it up. At divisional conference in May, civil service workers unanimously called for debate on the topic to be driven by “mature discussion based around analytics” and argued that it should not be seen as a pandemic-era quirk, or a managerial favour to be withdrawn at whim.
While many members have benefited from more agile approaches to working time, others are still constrained by outdated, clock-bound systems. That’s why concrete wins matter. This year saw Clare County Council workers secure the right to an enhanced flexitime scheme, ending a situation where staff had to sacrifice annual leave just to attend appointments or deal with basic life admin.
Against a backdrop of billionaire guff and “return-to-office diktats”, Fórsa’s campaigns team kept the pressure on - including organising an online consultation to feed directly into the government’s review of the right to request remote work legislation, which drew 3,427 responses in just four days. The lines drawn this year prove one thing: collective pressure works - and our movement moves forward, not back.
Essential link: Dive into the Spring 2025 edition of CSQ to read how real workers like you feel about new patterns of working.
3. A year of wins that will shape the future for members
As anyone active in a union or movement knows, not every battle grabs the headlines. But every single one matters. Each campaign builds confidence, strengthens solidarity, and shows -step by step - just how much can be achieved when workers stand together. A quick survey of the Fórsa year reveals activity and wins all over the country.
2025 was a defining year for health workers, as Fórsa members and colleagues across the health unions confronted the damaging impact of the HSE’s ‘Pay and Numbers’ Strategy. The suppression of vacant posts and the imposition of a rigid employment ceiling left hospitals and community services dangerously understaffed, pushing workers to breaking point with morale plummeting while agency costs soared.
After months of frustration and the serving of industrial action notice in March, intensive engagement at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) led to proposals aimed at tackling delayed recruitment, filling vacant posts and improving workforce planning. Fórsa members working in the HSE and Section 38 hospitals voted to accept the proposals, standing down planned action to give the agreement a chance.
By year’s end, it was evident that progress had fallen short. Following further unsuccessful talks at the WRC, health unions referred the dispute to the Labour Court, with a hearing set for January 2026.
Elsewhere, there was a major win in the long fought for campaign for job evaluation in local authorities, with an agreement reached on the shape of the scheme, and for a pilot to be introduced. In the same sector industrial action looks set to take place in 2026 as local authorities are struggling to retain Information and Communication Technology (ICT) workers, where morale is low and the Government’s digitalisation goals are at risk. Our members are organising on this critical issue, and recently took a ballot for industrial action to force recognition of the actual work they are doing.
Prison chaplains secured a win in a pay disparity claim. The board upheld Fórsa’s claim that chaplains, recruited from 2015 onwards, had been placed on an incorrect, lower, pay scale. The estimated difference in pay between those appointed before and after 2015 was about €18,000 per point on the salary scale. The Arbitration Board determined that pay adjustments should be backdated to July 2023.
Taken together, these aren’t isolated victories - they’re evidence of an organising culture taking root. Or as the GAA would say: take the points, and the goals will look after themselves.
Essential link: The members’ bulletin is the beating heart of the union. Every issue is archived on the website. Dive into the back issues from your division and others. Stay connected. Keep yourself and your workmates bang up to date.
4. Fighting for the common good at home and around the world
Housing remained the defining social crisis of the year. With homelessness at record levels and thousands of homes lying vacant, unions highlighted the growing gap between policy commitments and lived reality – particularly for frontline workers who are both responding to the crisis and experiencing it themselves.
With the picture on housing becoming more and more grim, major mobilisations took place around the country to support ICTU’s Raise The Roof campaign, there was a rally at the Dail in June which saw hundreds gather for speeches and performances from artists like Meryl Streek and a range of others.
Trade union solidarity is not an abstract principle in Fórsa – it is something members live and practice, locally and internationally, every day. Over the past year, that solidarity has been expressed powerfully through action for Palestine, while also taking concrete shape in communities across Ireland.
Internationally, members have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people in multiple ways. Fórsa members participated in a recent seminar with Makan discussing concrete solidarity actions while strong member turnouts at demonstrations and days of action ensured that solidarity was visible on the streets as well as in meeting rooms.
Our international work was practically minded too, with support for ethical initiatives like our sponsorship of Self Help Africa projects in Burkina Faso providing a lifeline for tens of thousands of rural families.
The union also deepened its international work in Latin America this year as Fórsa proudly stands for peace and justice in Colombia, supporting efforts to ensure the voices of workers, activists, and communities are heard internationally in the struggle for peace and justice, reflecting a commitment to defending trade union rights and strengthening global movements for reconciliation.
Crucially, this international solidarity has been matched by organising and action closer to home. It’s reflected in countless smaller but deeply meaningful acts of solidarity: such as funding a defibrillator for a local GAA club and the now-familiar sight of union-sponsored sports kits appearing in communities at home and abroad.
Fórsa also fuelled 30 inner city community projects this year like the Dublin Docklands Boxing Club with funding of up to €500 each. Ahead of Christmas the NEC donated to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin, and just as we go to print, we can report on the most successful year for our Toy Appeal for the Children's Health Foundation.
What’s clear is that Fórsa members continue to demonstrate that union values extend well beyond pay and conditions or even borders.
Essential link: Watch on YouTube how Fórsa workers brought ICTU’s Day of Action on Palestine to life or read about one of the SNA Soccer Blitz’s here.
5. The Better Deal campaign
As the year closes out, one message from Fórsa members has been loud and clear: rising living costs, an ongoing housing crisis, pressure on public services and growing threats to flexible and remote working have left workers stretched and frustrated.
Our recent Amárach survey confirmed what members already know - living standards are falling and the next public service pay agreement must deliver real change. Crucially, members are ready to act, with only 2% saying they would not be willing to stand up to secure a better outcome.
In response, Fórsa launched A Better Deal - a back-to-basics campaign focused on rebuilding workplace power and collective strength. The campaign begins with a simple but powerful pledge: members will only support a pay agreement that delivers meaningful pay increases, fair work-life balance, resolves local bargaining claims and real investment in the common good. Built on one-to-one conversations led by workplace reps, the campaign puts members at the centre and makes clear that public servants will not be passive participants in the next round of talks.
Beyond the workplace, Fórsa members are thinking about how they can shape wider society. In our most recent survey, when asked which ‘common good’ issue Fórsa should campaign for more public investment in, members named healthcare (32%) as their top priority, followed by housing (19%), with care for older people, education, and childcare close behind.
These results reflect not just personal experience but shared frustration with underfunded public systems. And while the government hasn’t engaged with ‘common good’ issues in national pay talks for over 17 years, three-quarters (74%) of members want that commitment brought back.
A new form of collective bargaining was created last year when you voted for the Public Service Agreement 2024 - 2026. This is a new way for groups of workers across the civil and public service to bargain together and improve their pay and conditions. Since last December, Fórsa has been lodging claims based on what thousands of members have told us. This is totally driven by members, so get involved - back your claim and build your union.
The first offers resulting from local bargaining negotiations were received last month in the civil service, and members have been voting on them this past week, showing that once again members are at the centre of union strategy and decision making.
7. From the floor up: a year of member-led conferences
Across Fórsa’s divisional conferences in 2025 one message rang clear through motions, debates and amendments: this union is shaped from the floor up, not handed down.
In a rain-swept Galway in April, the Education divisional conference celebrated the socially transformative nature of their jobs and voted for industrial action to support school secretaries and caretakers. Delegates tackled equality, inclusion, and gender-based violence, while the Minister announced a long-awaited SNA redeployment scheme. Many spoke of how conference replaced isolation with solidarity – and left them energised to act.
The sun split the stones in Letterkenny as Health and Welfare members shared stark frontline realities: low morale, unsafe conditions, and being forced to work in cars and kitchens. But alongside the anger came solidarity, strong motions, and a renewed determination to fight for pay justice, decent conditions, and patient care.
At the Local Government conference, energy ran high as delegates celebrated a long fought for win on job evaluation, and debated fair pay, housing, staffing levels and resistance to outsourcing. Folk music set a reflective tone, but the message was urgent: local government is the bedrock of daily life and must be defended and strengthened.
Delegates from the Municipal Employees' Divsion met in Galway. Their conference celebrated the work of the 'muno' with a video documenting their early morning bin runs to the quiet care of gallery halls, this short doc gives voice to the people who keep the city moving.
Later that month, the Services and Enterprises divisional conference met with a focus on growth and wins. With over 1,000 new members, delegates shared successful campaigns – from cabin crew conditions to fertility and peer support policies – and heard lessons from the IALPA strike. The message was clear: when workers organise with purpose, real progress follows.
The civil service divisional conference closed the conference season, public servants spoke plainly about what’s at stake: flexible work, dignity on the job, inclusion for neurodivergent workers, the realities (and myths) of AI, hybrid work, and the growing momentum behind a ‘Four Day Week’. Youth reps, frontline staff and union leaders made it clear – rights aren’t given, they’re won.
Essential link: You can dive through our video coverage of the conferences here.
8. New voices, new spaces
This year was about Fórsa working to create new spaces and amplifying new voices across the union. From campuses and conference halls to fields in Offaly, members came together to organise, celebrate, and build power. Whether you were just starting out in work, retiring after decades of service, or finding community through shared identity, 2025 proved that Fórsa members are a hugely diverse community.
Fórsa Youth led the charge with a year defined by energy and ambition. From fundraising for Palestinian trade union solidarity, to visible mobilisation at May Day, and powerful contributions at the education conference, young members made their mark. The inaugural Fórsa Youth Conference in Trinity College Dublin brought together trade unionists, academics, activists, and politicians to tackle housing, the cost of living, and workers’ rights.
The union also opened vital new spaces for belonging and solidarity. This year saw the launch of Fórsa’s first-ever LGBTQIA+ Network, born from member activism and a clear need for collective support in the face of rising prejudice. The network was born from a motion brought to the Biennial conference in May 2024 by activist Rob Partridge. It will work to support all members and staff who identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
This year marked Fórsa’s second year formally taking part in Pride marches across the country under the union’s own banner. From Budapest to Ballymena, Fórsa sent our solidarity and pride to our LGBTQIA+ members and communities bravely and proudly marching everywhere.
At the other end of the working journey, the Retired Members Association held its first national conference, affirming that retirement is not a departure from solidarity but a continuation of it - bringing decades of experience, wisdom, and activism into a growing and vibrant community.
Nerney’s Court was heaving as retired members, long-time activists, and union stalwarts gathered for the milestone occasion of the first-ever conference of the Retired Members Association (RMA). From the moment people arrived, the buzz of conversation and shared memories filled the air.
Finally, Fórsa brought the union message beyond the workplace and down to one of the largest gatherings in the country with a return to the National Ploughing Championships where union officers were on site meeting members from all walks of life with a connection to all things rural.
Essential link: More and more our YouTube channel is growing with material capturing the rich activity of members. Make sure to subscribe and stay connected.
We know we haven’t captured everything. And that’s where you come in. As we say farewell to 2025, we’re handing the story over to you - our members. This roundup isn’t complete without what happened on the ground. We want to hear about your branch highlights, local disputes and victories, and the campaigns, actions, and moments we may have missed.
Because the real story of 2025 lives in workplaces - and it’s yours to tell. Send us your stories, and we’ll share the best in the New Year edition of the bulletin.
Like
