School secretaries issue threat of strike

SCHOOL secretaries being paid as little as €6 per hour could begin strike protests before the end of the current school term.

On the second day of the IMPACT trade union conference in Kilkenny yesterday, it was claimed up to 5% of the secretaries are earning the minimum wage of €8.65 or even less.

The conference heard the plight of one Limerick secretary who started working for a school eight years ago. At that point she was earning €225 for a 37.5-hour week — an hourly rate of €6.02. According to the union, eight years later that woman is still earning the same wage — now almost €3 less than the minimum wage.