Talks breakdown between school secretaries' union and the Department of Education

Fórsa has confirmed that negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), on pension provision for school secretaries and caretakers, broke down on Thursday. The union said the breakdown follows the Department of Education and Youth’s failure to engage meaningfully with union proposals on a range of pension issues, including the recognition of prior service.

Fórsa said the breakdown in talks would require the matter be referred to the Labour Court, recourse to which was a central element of the September agreement that ended nationwide strike action in primary and secondary schools.

Talks resumed at the WRC on Thursday to deal with the long-standing inequities affecting school secretaries and caretakers, who remain excluded from full pension parity with other school-based, public service staff.

Fórsa said no progress was made this week on the key issue of providing comparable pension benefits and recognising previous service.

The union’s head of education Andy Pike said any agreement must include appropriate credit for members’ earlier service. Without it, he said: “School secretaries and caretakers stand to lose significant pension value, many of whom have decades of employment behind them.

“The Department’s refusal to table a constructive proposal on this point has now brought the process to an impasse. School secretaries and caretakers have shown extraordinary patience. Their determination to secure a just and long-overdue resolution remains unwavering. But if progress continues to be blocked, we cannot - and will not - rule out further strike action.

“The next step now is to refer this matter to the Labour Court for a decision. Our members were clear in their intention when they took strike action in September. They fought for a fair agreement. We remain focused on establishing a satisfactory agreement through the State’s Industrial Relations mechanisms and will work with the Court to resolve this issue,” he said.