School staff stage strike protest outside office of Tipperary Fine Gael TD

Up to 100 school secretaries and caretakers are on indefinite strike throughout Tipperary .

School staff from Tipperary schools attended a Forsa trade union rally in Dublin last Thursday and in Cork on Friday and from Monday placed pickets on over 70 schools in the county.

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The strike is taking place in protest at their exclusion from public service pensions and basic entitlements.
Among those on the picket lines was Anne Ahearne. Anne has worked as the secretary at Ardfinnan National School for the last 30 years.

Anne is the longest serving staff member at the school and has never been given access to a public service pension.
“I remember the first SNA coming to the school 28 years ago and automatically going into the public service pension.I am still fighting for my pension entitlements like so many other secretaries are,” said Anne.
She accused the Government of treating secretaries like public service staff when it suited them .

“When the crash came teachers lost 5% of their wage ands so did I and other school secretaries who have no public service pension.We were treated like public servants then, why have we not yet received public service pension rights. It is time for this inequality to stop,” said Anne.

Also on the picket lines of schools on Monday morning was Caroline Bolger, a secretary at Kilsheelan National School for the last 24 years.

“As a group we have been left stranded and have felt isolated for so long. The Government never believed we could mobilise as well as we have done and we just want fairness,” said Caroline who had the backing of parents ,family and teaching staff on Monday morning.

She said that all they wanted was fairness and parity with school secretaries who were given a civil service pension up to 1982/83 and parity with secretaries in all ETB school who had civil service pensions.
“It is shameful that for 40 years this has not been corrected by the Government. We deserve pension parity” said Caroline.

On Tuesday Tipperary Forsa members picketed the constituency office of Deputy Michael Murphy in Clonmel.
Deputy Murphy said he supported the campaign mounted by Forsa membes for pension parity and other issues.

He acknowledged the huge contribution staff make to the life of schools and communities.
“Having served for many years on the Parents Council and Board of Management of Powerstown National School, I have seen first hand the essential role secretaries and caretakers play in supporting principals, teachers, children and families.Such staff have been a positive force in our centres of educational excellence,” he said.
Deputy Murphy said he completely understood how difficult it must be for staff to be on strike rather than in school particularly at the tart t of a busy new year.

“I know this action is a last resort and not where staff want to be and I respect the stance the staff are taking for fairness in pension parity and leave entitlements,” said Deputy Murphy.

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Deputy Murphy called on the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to accede to this valid and genuine claim and he vowed to continue raising the matter with the Government.
Deputy Murphy said the dispute needed to be addressed urgently through the Workplace Commission and if necessary the Labour Court