Fórsa to ballot school secretaries and caretakers
School secretaries and caretakers, who are members of the Fórsa trade union, are to be balloted on proposals on pay, pensions and leave entitlements.
Fórsa, the trade union representing school secretaries and caretakers, will ballot its members on pay, pensions and leave entitlement proposals. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) reached an agreement on several measures, including pay increases for caretakers and a move to a central payroll service operated by the Department of Education.
In July, the Labour Court recommended lump sum payments at retirement to resolve a pensions dispute between school secretaries and caretakers. This dispute caused over 2,600 members to strike for more than a week at the beginning of the previous school year, affecting around 2,000 schools. The strike was suspended a year ago, pending negotiations on pension entitlements, sick leave, bereavement leave, and a new pay structure for caretakers, according to Fórsa's Head of Education, Andy Pike.
The final set of proposals emerged from multiple WRC engagements and several Labour Court hearings over the past year. Pike expressed anticipation of meeting members to discuss the proposals during the consultation period. School secretaries and caretakers will now evaluate the recommendations and vote on acceptance in a union ballot.
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