Around 1,000 school secretaries and caretakers are to hold three one-day strikes commencing later this month in a long-running dispute over low pay and insecure employment. They are also planning to follow this up with an indefinite stoppage from mid-November if the issue is not resolved. RTÉ, the Irish Times, the Examiner, the Indo and the journal all have coverage of the story, as well as over 10 regional papers from around the country. Niall will be on WLRfm at around 11:45 this morning as well with more. #SupportOurSecretaries

Workers in certain Section 39 organisations are also to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over failure to restore pay cuts imposed during the economic crisis. Fórsa's Catherine Keogh is quoted by RTÉ and the Irish Times as accusing the government of "effectively turning their backs on these workers", when they had continued to provide a range of health services to the community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The Independent also reports on the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform being accused of “washing his hands” of the pay dispute 

Aer Lingues CEO yesterday accused the Irish government of having the most restrictive travel policies in Europe, saying its done the least to support its aviation sector and has damaged vital connectivity. The DAA say they have a Covid-19 testing system for international travel ready to go, and government have been criticised for not introducing it.

The Irish Times reports that one in five new recruits to the civil service must be proficient in Irish from 2030, following approval at Cabinet this week of a series of amendments to the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill. 

Elsewhere, a new European report has claimed Ireland will never close the gender pay gap if wage disparity is not tackled directly. Esther Lynch of ETUC has accused EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of neglecting her promise to even out the differences between male and female pay across Europe.

Meanwhile, European parliamentarians have written to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos asking whether the firm is spying on union activists and politicians. The letter was sparked by two job posts looking to recruit intelligence analysts whose duties would include reporting on union activity. This news comes alongside the revelation that billionaires' wealth has reached record levels during the pandemic. If that doesn't put a fire in your union-belly this morning, I don't know what will!

Yesterday was also 'World Day of Decent Work', which ICTU produced a great short video for. You can catch that here.

In a similar vein, ICTU and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission are hosting a joint webinar later this month. 'Promoting and protecting human rights and equality: The potential of the public sector equality and human rights duty for trade unions' will take place on Thursday 22nd October from 9:30-11am. Kevin Callinan will jointly open the session, while the keynote address will be delivered by UNISON general secretary, David Prentis. You can take a look at the full programme here. To register, email rsvp@ihrec.ie by this day next week, October 15th. 

And finally, today's zen is John Lennon's 'Imagine', which just turned 49 years old. Not to be confused with Gal Gadot's star-studded dystopian version from March. Only two minutes long but feels like a lifetime on account of all the cringe.

Have a good day, folks.