Over 2,800 school secretaries and caretakers have decided that enough is enough. They have now entered indefinite strike action. We say: victory to the secretaries and caretakers! Strike until all demands are met!
After decades of government inaction, Fórsa members voted by an overwhelming 98 percent to take this stand. Their demands are over longstanding issues: pension parity (a key factor in the 36 percent gender pension gap); securing a single contract of employment for secretaries and caretakers; and gaining access to sick leave and bereavement leave.
As one striking worker explained to us:
“There are testimonies of caretakers and secretaries who had to work during chemotherapy… Some of our members’ spouses and children passed away, and they were told to go to school the next morning, or even the same day… The Department of Education is meant to teach fairness, but this government hasn’t been fair.”
Let us be clear: it is an absolute scandal that while the government plans to beef up military spending, and TDs’ salaries rise yet again, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael still deny even basic parity to workers!
And these slimeballs now crawl out of the woodwork and offer hollow “support” for Fórsa’s campaign, including Minister for Education Helen McEntee. But in the words of the Fórsa union itself: “These are just empty words until real action happens.” Now McEntee has the cheek to say she “doesn’t want to see” the strike go ahead. The answer is simple: then stop trampling on workers’ rights!
Solidarity with the striking workers!
The strike began on Thursday 28 August with a massive show of strength: upwards of 3,000 union members – along with hundreds of sympathisers – took to the streets of Dublin. The mood at the rally was militant, filled with determination and deep frustration at a government that has been speaking out of both sides of its mouth for decades.
This will be followed by regional rallies, and then indefinite pickets outside schools across the country. We call on all our supporters, students and workers alike, to stand in solidarity with the strike and give it their support.
At a time when the government is preparing new attacks against the working class, the fight of caretakers and secretaries is the fight of every worker. As one school secretary, Caitlin from Ballinadee National School, told us at the rally: “I’m here today to show my daughter that when something is wrong, you say it’s wrong… This has to stop!”
Not a wheel turns, not a phone rings, not a lightbulb shines without the kind permission of the working class. But these workers are no longer content with being kind. They are now forcefully showing just how essential they are to the running of our schools.
Solidarity with the striking workers!
Strike until all demands are met!
Victory to the secretaries and caretakers!
