School secretaries protest over pay

SCHOOL secretaries have staged the first in a series of one-day stoppages in protest at their low level of pay which sees some earning less than the minimum wage.

Secretaries from across the country converged on Donegal to take part in the rally at the Radisson Hotel in Letterkenny, where they protested at what they describe as the continuing inequalities in their pay and working conditions.

At present, a two-tier pay system exists, where some school secretaries employed before the implementation of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress (PESP) in 1990 are paid directly by the Department of Education and Science.

However, those employed after the PESP are paid out of a grant given to the school boards, which is also used to cover other school expenses. Consequently, the majority of school secretaries employed after 1990 do not enjoy a standardised rate of pay and, as one case in Limerick has pointed out, some are earning the minimum wage of €8.65, or even less. According to the IMPACT union, these school secretaries have no access to national pay agreement wage rises, no access to pensions, no sick leave schemes and no access to the basic conditions of employment like grievance, disciplinary or bullying and harassment procedures.

IMPACT official Johnny Fox said the Department of Education and Science have not made any progress on the pay issue. “The department has done nothing to address the issue, despite the provisions made in the Towards 2016 national agreement to do so.

“School secretaries have been patient and they have been fair, but they have been left out in the cold for far too long. Consequently, we will hold a series of work stoppages from September 1. We have enormous support for our campaign from within the union, in addition to the support from the communities in which our members are working,” he said.

A ballot of members taken in May found 98% in favour of a proposal to engage in a day of protest against pay inequalities.