They say most earn just €12,500 per year and are forced to sign on in summer months.
School secretaries are holding a rally in Westmeath today, in an ongoing dispute over a two-tier pay system.
Forsa trade union, which represents over 1,000 secretaries, says most earn just 12,500 euro a year in irregular, short-term contracts.
They're gathering at the Department of Education in Athlone at 1 o'clock this afternoon, as part of a wider national strike, after efforts to resolve the issue at the Workplace Relations Commission broke down.
The strike will be followed by a work-to-rule, which will see them withdraw from public service databases and refuse to carry out the functions of public servants.
Niall Shanahan, communications officer with Forsa, says the 1.5 per cent pay increase they were offered at the WRC isn't enough:
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