‘They see how serious we are’
Fórsa strike at Offaly schools continues
By Rebekah O'Reilly
As the national Fórsa strike of school secretaries and caretakers continued this week, Boher NS school secretary Brigid Kelly stood at the picket line with fellow school secretaries from Clonmacnois NS, High Street NS, Pullough NS and Rashina NS.
"We want to be in school doing the work," Brigid told the Offaly Independent. "We haven't even had the chance to meet the new class of Junior Infants, which we look forward to so much each year. We should be part of those first memories."
The industrial action organised by the Fórsa trade union began last week, and is set to continue indefinitely until the group elicits a response from Government.
The secretaries and caretakers are seeking pension parity along with their teacher and SNA colleagues, with the Offaly group also highlighting in particular the need for proper sick leave and bereavement leave.
"If we have a family emergency, or if we were to lose a loved one, we are not covered. It is all at the discretion of our principal," Brigid said, adding that the pension parity issue is "part of a much wider problem".
The Boher NS secretary, who has been in her post for eight years, said that, while there has been some support from local politicians, she feels more could be done.
“On Tuesday, we were outside (TD) John Clendennen’s office, and he wasn’t there, but he left a note on the door for us. Then we went to Tony McCormack’s office, and he came out to hear what we had to say and to show his support,” said Brigid.
“I have to say, Cllr Aoife Masterson has been great. She came and stood at the picket line with us at Pullough NS, in the torrential rain. She brought buns and came out to stand with us.
“The support has been slow, but it’s picking up this week. I think they’re beginning to see how serious we are.”
Brigid shared her disappointment with the lack of communication from Government officials since the strike began.
“I’m extremely disappointed with Minister McEntee - she has given no response. And from Minister Chambers we haven’t heard a thing,” Brigid said.
“Even if we got an email to acknowledge the strike. In this day and age, we have social media, it’s not that they don’t see the strike going on. There are over 2,600 secretaries and caretakers on strike at the moment across the country, and we haven’t even been acknowledged.”
Brigid also highlighted the support of Cumann na mBunscol, which has postponed all games until the strike ends.
“That was great to see, because they understand the secretaries do all that work behind the scenes to keep those games going,” she said.
“School secretaries do more than just answering the phones. We pay the bills for the SNAs, teachers, and the bus drivers.
“We are responsible for the capitation of the students, which the schools can’t run without. The secretary is the only person who knows how to do that. If the numbers of students aren’t registered in the system by October, schools will not be able to run,” she added.