A north west member of the public service union Forsa says there are school secretaries and caretakers in the region who have been on the minimum wage for years.
Frank Considine, a secretary in St Clare’s National School in Manorhamilton, was speaking as up to 1,000 school secretaries throughout the country, mostly in primary schools, are on strike today.
Although no pickets are taking place at schools, rallies are taking place at a number of venues, including outside the office of Donegal TD and Education Minister Joe McHugh in Letterkenny this lunchtime.
Forsa’s main concern is over what it says is a two-tier pay system for school secretaries.
But Frank Considine says part of the problem is that individual schools can decide how much to pay their secretaries.
Meanwhile, Forsa’s Niall Shanahan says the industrial action will continue next week: