School secretaries to strike over three days in ongoing pay dispute
SECRETARIES at 1,000 schools are set to strike on three days, followed by an indefinite stoppage, in a row over pay.
One-day strikes are planned on Friday October 23, Monday November 2 and Friday November 13. The 24-hour stoppages will be followed by an indefinite strike from Monday November 16.
Trade union Fórsa will serve notice of industrial action next week on schools and the Department of Education on behalf of the primary and secondary school secretaries.
The secretaries are ramping up industrial action in a long-running dispute to end a two-tier pay system.
They previously took industrial action that included a one-day strike last January.
They want the same terms and conditions as school secretaries employed by education and training boards.
They claim most of them earn €12,500 a year and are forced to sign on during school breaks.
A survey of the secretaries last weekend found 80pc backed strike action, including an indefinite strike.
Fórsa head of education, Andy Pike, said teaching will continue on strike days, but the industrial action will cause a lot of internal difficulties for schools and the department. He said school secretaries had exhausted all options to bring the dispute to a satisfactory conclusion.
“Talks didn’t produce any progress,” he said. “At this stage, the issue has been unresolved for so long that it needs to be brought to a head.
“The employer side are refusing to use the Labour Court to resolve it, leaving secretaries wondering if it will be five or 10 years before the department takes them seriously.”
Mr Pike said there was no progress at a meeting last week at the Workplace Relations Commission.
He said the department repeated an offer of a 1.5pc increase, which was rejected.
Fórsa represents half of the 3,000 school secretaries employed directly by their school’s board of management and paid from school grants.
The Department of Education said the intention to take strike action was “regrettable” and “could further disrupt tuition for students who have recently returned to school”.