Union's Athlone meeting on pay rises for school staff

A meeting of the IMPACT trade union in Athlone this evening (Thursday) will provide details of a recommended pay rise for school secretaries and caretakers.

The information meeting, which is open to non-members, takes place at the Athlone Education Centre, Moydrum Road, at 7pm.

It will provide information to school secretaries and caretakers paid from grant funding to schools.

A recent arbitration finding has recommended four separate pay rises of 2.5% for these workers between 2016 and 2019.

The arbitration finding by arbitrator Kevin Foley (who has been subsequently appointed Labour Court deputy chairman) has recommended that school secretaries and caretakers, employed directly by boards of management in State-funded schools, would see their minimum hourly rates increase from €10.25 to €13 an hour over the period.

The finding means that these workers, irrespective of their current rate of pay, will benefit from a cumulative pay increase of almost 11% over the next four years. Those earning less than the minimum will benefit by a higher percentage.

The finding comes after a sustained campaign by IMPACT trade union, and follows a commitment to secure a collectively bargained outcome in talks conducted in tandem with the Lansdowne Road discussions in May this year.

Caretakers and secretaries pay rates vary, as they are determined by the individual board of management of each school, and paid from the ancillary grants paid to the schools by the Department of Education and Skills. Almost all are paid below the scale paid to equivalent public service workers, including a minority of secretaries and caretakers who are paid directly by the department.

In addition to the Athlone meeting, IMPACT is organising similar events in Galway, Kildare and Dundalk.