Around 1,000 school secretaries and caretakers are to hold three one-day strikes commencing later this month in a long-running dispute over low pay and insecure employment - and will escalate to an indefinite strike if the dispute is not resolved.
However, the Department of Education and Skills has estimated that it could cost up to €86 million per year to concede the secretaries' claim.
Their union Fórsa confirmed that the three one-day stoppages will take place on 23 October, Monday 2 November and Friday 13 November - but if the dispute is not resolved by then, an indefinite strike will begin on Monday 16 November.
Formal strike notice will be served on schools and the Department of Education and Skills on 15 October.
Talks at the Workplace Relations Commission last week failed to resolve the dispute - though the Department says that process is still ongoing.
The 10-year dispute centres on the two-tier system for school secretaries, whereby those employed by Educational Training Board have the pay, pensions and job security of public servants.
However, around 2,000 workers employed directly by the individual board of management of a school say they earn as little as €12,500 a year, get no sick pay, increments, security of tenure or pension contributions - and frequently have to sign on for social welfare over the summer.
Fórsa represents over half of the 2,000 school secretaries seeking pay parity with their better paid colleagues in ETBs.
The union's Head of Education official Andy Pike said the decision to strike was taken because school secretaries had exhausted all the options available to bring the dispute to a satisfactory conclusion.
He confirmed that members have a valid mandate for strike action, which already led to a one-day stoppage last January before the pandemic closed schools.
He claimed the positions adopted by Education Minister Norma Foley and Department officials stood directly in the way of any progress being made - describing the Minister's approach as being "...in sharp contrast to pre-election pledges of support from Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to resolve the issue".
A spokesperson for the Department described Fórsa's intention to take strike action as "regrettable", as it would impact on the day-to-day operation of schools, and further disrupt tuition for students who have recently returned to school.
She said that assuming all secretaries and caretakers were working fulltime and at the top of their pay scale, conceding to the union demands would cost an extra €50 million a year, with a further "substantial" cost of €36 million to provide pensions.
Fórsa disputes this calculation, citing estimates that put the cost of moving to public service pay scales at around €5 million.
The Department has also expressed concerns about potential "knock-on" claims from other state-funded agencies - and described the matter as "...a complex one that raises significant policy, legal and Exchequer cost issues".
The spokesperson noted that between 2016 and 2019, secretaries and caretakers had received a cumulative pay rise of 10% - with a minimum hourly pay rate of €13 to be phased in over that period.
She said a Department survey carried out last year found the average hourly pay for a school secretary was €15.49 - in line with the hourly rate of a Grade 3 Clerical Officer.
The Department says that a pay increase was offered to Fórsa at the WRC meeting last week, but was deemed unacceptable.
