INDUSTRIAL action by special needs assistants and teaching staff is expected to cause disruption in schools across West Cork.
Special needs assistants (SNAs), who are members of the country’s largest public sector union Fórsa, held a work-to-rule on Wednesday, with teaching staff who are members of the INTO union due to join them on Monday October 5.
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Brendan McCarthy, principal of Scoil Naomh Bhríde in Union Hall, acknowledged that both unions balloted their members in recent weeks and received a strong mandate to commence industrial action, up to and including strike action.
The work-to-rule involves thousands of public sector workers in areas such as health, education and local authorities, and schools everywhere are on notice that a national strike day for all public sector union members is planned for October 14.
“School staff and school leaders partake in so many duties outside of their normal working hours in the classrooms and all of this is vital to the running of our schools,” he told the Southern Star.
He suggested that prolonged industrial action could create “a huge backlog of work that will take a long time to clear”.
He added: “School staff do not want to go on strike but currently they have no choice. The government needs to establish a basis for negotiations following the delays in agreeing a new public sector pay deal.”
Mr McCarthy, who is also an elected member of Cork County Council, said he hopes the government and trade unions will engage constructively with each other to prevent the industrial action from escalating.
School authorities throughout West Cork have written to parents explaining that the industrial action involves the withdrawal of certain duties, outside normal working arrangements, but teaching during the normal school day will continue as usual.
The most immediate impact for some schools will be the withdrawal of morning supervision. And, in some schools, children have also been asked, for health and safety reasons, not to be on school grounds before 9am.
In addition, children must be collected promptly at the end of their school day. Parents were also advised that public sector unions are expected to participate in nationwide strike action on October 14, which is likely to result in schools being closed for the day.
Meanwhile, in a letter that was issued to school principals and boards of management, Fórsa said its members will work in accordance with their contracts of employment and carry out duties limited to their respective grades.
SNAs have been instructed to “withdraw goodwill” which means they are not to engage in extra-curricular activities, such as assisting with clubs, tours or open days. They have also been instructed to refuse to attend training, and to refuse to attend student planning meetings.
