TUI supports Fórsa campaign for School Secretaries and Caretakers

By piofficer, Wednesday, 8th January 2020 | 0 comments

This Friday, 10th January, school secretaries represented by Fórsa will hold a national one-day strike and commence a work-to-rule campaign until further notice as they escalate their industrial action.


The strike is part of a campaign to improve the pay and conditions for School Secretaries and Caretakers.

School Secretaries are paid either directly by the Department of Education and Skills on salaries between €24,000 to €44,711 p.a. depending on the whole-time equivalent number of teachers in the school or through an ‘ancillary grant’ paid to a school’s board of management, the salary for which amounts to €12,702 p.a. The vast majority of School Secretaries are in receipt of the latter salary.


In addition, the School Secretaries who are paid through the ancillary grant have:-

 

  • No certainty of employment or hours of work
  • No occupational pension
  • No entitlement to sick leave
  • No entitlement to pay increases from public sector pay agreements
  • No incremental pay increases

The Fórsa campaign is fully supported by the TUI. The Union has a long-standing position that the provision of education in the state is a core element of the social contract and a vital public service. In this regard, it is also our position that the staff supporting the provision of this public service should be considered to be, and should receive all of the benefits and entitlements of, equivalent public servants.

The TUI fully supports Fórsa in their campaign to secure this recognition, and the inherent security, for their members.

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