As caretakers and secretaries entered their fourth day of strike action, over 40 stood outside the Letterkenny office of Minister of State Charlie McConalogue.
It’s part of the national activity for the picket line to move outside of local TD offices.
Minister McConalogue’s office was closed for the day with a note on the door saying it would be opened again tomorrow; however, he was in his office in Carndonagh and spoke to protesters there.
The strike action is ongoing over a row about pension disparity.
Highland Radio News spoke to those standing out in protest, and three recurring themes came into conversation: guilt, fear, and anger.
One secretary said she was losing sleep over the knock-on effect this would have for her colleagues and the students at her school, while another, Bridgetta Brogan, commented on how difficult it was watching the new students go into school yesterday morning:
Many of the staff who were out in protest talked about how long they have been working at their respective schools, as well as how long they have been asking for parity.
Kathleen O’Doherty was a school secretary for 26 years. She retired two years ago, having spent much of her career campaigning:
One woman who works in a school in South Donegal says that when a teacher at her school had to leave to receive treatment for cancer, she knew if she were in that position, she would only be entitled to three days of sick pay, which worried her.
Speaking to Cllr Declan Meehan, he said the sick benefits are the most shocking element of it all:
The ETB counterparts of the secretaries and caretakers who are on the picket lines have parity, something the picketers find particularly unjust.
Leading to Rita Walsh, secretary of Scoil Aodh Ruah agus Nuala, to demand it is called out for what it is, discrimination:
