School secretaries’ strike deferred following breakthrough in talks

A planned one-day strike by school secretaries and caretakers scheduled for Wednesday has been called off following a breakthrough in talks between unions and the Department of Education.

Fórsa said the department has “conceded” that all school secretaries should be placed on the public service clerical officer scale, potentially bringing an end to a 40-year-old, two-tier pay system.

The union said the offer will also do away with the requirement for most secretaries to sign on during school breaks, as they will be able to retain existing work patterns while having their salaries paid over 52 weeks on a pro-rata basis.

Fórsa said arrangements for transferring staff to new scales are to be finalised through discussions over the next two weeks. It said the same overall principles will apply to caretakers.

School secretaries’ strike deferred following breakthrough in talks

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Union sources estimate that the move to apply the public service clerical officer scale will likely result in a pay increase of 6 per cent for most secretaries.

Andy Pike, Fórsa's head of education, said the outcome represented a "major victory" for school secretaries.

The union and department have been engaged in Workplace Relations Commission-brokered negotiations.

It said staff who stand to benefit are those employed by individual school boards of management and paid out of ancillary grants provided to each school.

It has argued that they earned far less than the minority of school secretaries and caretakers who work in Education and Training Board (ETB) schools and are on Department of Education pay scales.

Fórsa said the changes, which will come into effect from September 1st, 2021, will also mean equalisation of annual leave arrangements on the basis of public service clerical officer provisions.

The union said the department also agreed to improve sick pay arrangements, though Fórsa said it was still pursuing full equalisation with secretaries employed in ETB schools.

The union said it expected the new employment conditions to be included in a model national contract for secretaries.

It said the department had stated that the administration of secretaries’ pay would be centralised, with the details to be discussed over the coming weeks.

Fórsa said work remained to be done on the details of a similar package for caretakers. It added that the department had agreed the same principles would apply to them.

While no agreement was reached on the provision of pensions, the union said parties will try and seek a resolution of this outstanding issue in the final phase of talks on this long-standing dispute.

Mr Pike of Fórsa said that, until yesterday, an “unacceptable” offer from the Department of Education would still have left most secretaries on €12,000 a year less than their directly employed colleagues.

“The determination and resolve of school secretaries and caretakers has finally put the end of the two-tier pay system within our grasp,” he said.

“No secretary or caretaker wanted to be on strike tomorrow, but their willingness to take that step in a just cause was crucial to this victory.”