‘The glue that holds everything together’: Leitrim principal on impact of secretary strike

One Leitrim primary school principal has described the knock-on effects of their secretary being out on strike last week, as industrial action has now been withdrawn following an agreement between Fórsa and the Workplace Relations Committee (WRC) to resolve the dispute.

Schools across the country faced major disruption as over 2,800 secretaries and caretakers went on strike seeking equal entitlements, including pensions, in line with their colleagues.

Principal Alan Kelly of Scoil Mhuire Naofa in Carrigallen said he is “incredibly relieved” and “grateful” that his school’s secretary is back at work this week. While the school does not employ a full-time caretaker, Mr Kelly said the absence of the secretary during the first week of the school year had a huge impact.

“It was incredibly difficult while trying to support our secretary, who we were fully behind, and being instructed by our own unions and management bodies to work past the picket,” said Mr Kelly.

“It was a very fine balancing act between supporting our colleague and keeping the school open in a safe way for our staff and pupils alike.

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“In terms of the day-to-day running, our phone calls and emails were being unanswered which I’m sure was a source of frustration for parents or suppliers, or anyone who was trying to contact our school.”

Despite the challenges, support for the strike was strong. “Parents seem to be fully on board with the secretary strike. I didn't hear anyone who had a negative word about it. Everyone appreciates the work.”

The absence of the secretary meant bills went unpaid, including for summer construction works, new pupils were not migrated onto the school’s system, and outgoing pupils were not properly transferred to their new schools systems. New staff also lacked a point of contact about the inner workings of the school.

Mr Kelly stressed how vital the role is. “There’s a huge amount of unseen work that goes on a daily basis by the school secretary. Anyone who thinks that the school secretary’s job now is just phone and emails, it’s so far beyond that.

“She is the glue that holds everything together inside these four walls. She knows everything that’s going on with every child, she knows who is sick every day, who’s leaving early, who’s coming to school late.”

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Now that talks have been agreed at the WRC, Mr Kelly is optimistic. “I’m hopeful that there's an initial offer of what the talks are going to be, because that seemed to be a sticking point with Fórsa; that the pension didn’t seem to be on offer in terms of WRC talks. I’m hopeful that our secretaries and caretakers do stay.”

He also criticised the lack of urgency in addressing the strike. “I’m frustrated that this strike was flagged before the summer holidays. We still managed to go through around 10 weeks where there seemed to be no movement in terms of talks, and that we were allowed to come back to school at probably one of the busiest times of the year.”

The strike has underlined the importance of secretaries, often the unspoken heroes of school life. From liaising with parents and extracurricular providers, to payroll and administration, their work is central to every school. “We were incredibly supportive of her because we understand and appreciate what she does for us on a daily basis. These people are not on huge wages, and they’re not looking for a huge entitlement in terms of their pension,” Mr Kelly said.

“You try to be a doctor or dentist and make all your own appointments at the same time. Or you’re asking the pilot and co-pilot of the plane to do all the boarding and passenger checks. That’s what we were left with last week,” he added.

The Government has now committed to negotiating comparable pension entitlements for school secretaries and caretakers. Fórsa says this breakthrough marks the first time the State has formally accepted that these essential staff should not be excluded from pensions.

Every school strike seen in Ireland serves as a reminder of just how essential each role is to the smooth running of education.

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