Fórsa yesterday released a message of solidarity to our members working in public libraries who have been victims of intimidation at their workplaces in recent weeks. The union said the dedicated members “do integral work in creating inclusive communities.” And they should be applauded, not abused.

A criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse within the Defence Forces has been announced by the Garda Commissioner. Drew Harris said gardaí had received 26 complaints so far, but expected to receive more and encouraged victims to come forward.

Meanwhile, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has announced a significant escalation in its dispute with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on the issue of rosters. Sergeants and inspectors are to engage in four more protest marches in May, June, July and August as delegates at its annual conference yesterday mandated the association to take the action.

The Irish Times reports that resignations from the HSE were at least 1,000 higher than expected last year as the post-Covid exodus from the health service continued. The departure of so many staff, widely attributed to post-pandemic burnout and dissatisfaction with conditions in the health service, is rendering recruitment targets harder to achieve.

In a similar vein, a new survey indicates there are unfilled teaching vacancies in almost half of second-level schools. The findings are based on a Red C online poll of more than 2,000 Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) members last month, including classroom teachers, principals and deputy principals. Almost a fifth of schools were forced to remove a subject or subjects from the curriculum as a result.

More union news as we head into conference season - Kieran Christie, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), has said the union wants salary hikes that equal the cost of living to be part of the package sought at discussions on a new deal for 340,000 public servants this summer. ASTI says secondary teachers want inflation-matching pay rises “at a minimum” to be brokered for next year at Government talks on a new wage deal.

And Sarah O’Connor of the Financial Times writes about Spain’s (so far successful) efforts to tackle the issue of precarious work. “In Spain, it wasn’t an economic inevitability to which policymakers had to adapt. It was just a problem they had to fix,” she reports.

Have a good day folks!