Garda sergeants and inspectors to march on Garda HQ in protest over roster changes

A group of Garda sergeants and inspectors were due to persist with their plan to march to Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, on Monday in protest at new proposed Garda rosters.

This is despite the changes being postponed until at least autumn and an invitation being extended to them to try to resolve their grievances at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

The protest march is the first in a series of so-called “days of action” being undertaken by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), which represents the force’s middle manager ranks.

A group of 100 AGSI members were set to march to Garda Headquarters on Monday and submit a letter setting out their grievances with the mooted new rosters. The sergeants and inspectors who will make up Monday’s protest group will be off duty.

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[ Garda roster row: So, how many hours do gardaí work and will they actually go on ‘strike’? ]

However, AGSI general secretary, Antoinette Cunningham, said she could not guarantee her members would not withdraw their service, a strike in all but name, at some point in the weeks and months ahead due to the roster dispute.

She also said when her members meet for their annual conference in Galway in three weeks, they would discuss what further days of action may follow. Ms Cunningham added her members may decide, as individuals, to withdraw their service – rather than such an action being organised by AGSI, which would be illegal as gardaí are banned from organising industrial action.

She said Garda members had “no idea” what their new rosters would be under Mr Harris’s plans. That situation, with no certainty, had prevailed since March 2020 when the pandemic rosters were introduced.

She said the march was a “clear sign of the frustration, stress and anger that members are feeling in relation to their working arrangements, and in particular, given that this roster has been extended 15 times in three years.

“Policing the Covid-19 pandemic and responding to the national emergency and playing our part in policing during the crisis was a source of great pride to sergeants and inspectors, but previous commitments given by the Garda commissioner that members would return to their normal work pattern have not been honoured.

“The commissioner is now trying to impose a roster without agreement, and this is unacceptable,” she said. “We will continue to advocate on behalf of our members and the National Executive will meet next week to discuss our next steps.”

[ Garda representatives refuse to accept new roster proposals ]

Within hours of AGSI members holding a special meeting in Athlone, Co Westmeath, last Monday to agree on the “days of action” strategy, Mr Harris told Garda members the current roster, introduced for the pandemic, would remain in place until September. That move created six more months for talks on the rosters issue.

Mr Harris has also contacted the WRC, which has agreed to work with Garda representatives and senior management in a bid to agree new rosters after three years of talks have hit an impasse. He wants AGSI and the Garda Representative Association (GRA) to engage with the WRC and find a solution.

However, while the GRA, which represents about 12,000 rank and file gardaí, and AGSI have for years campaigned for access to the WRC, it is unclear if both will agree to engage with the commission on the rosters issue.

Both AGSI and the GRA are opposed to new rosters, which would see the scrapping of 12-hour shifts – and four days on, four off shift patterns – introduced for the pandemic period. Those shifts are seen as family friendly and predictable. They have allowed Garda members reduce the number of days they are in work, thus cutting down on costs associated with travelling to work, such as fuel. At the same time, because they are working 12-hour shifts, they are paid more unsocial hours allowances.

Under the new plans, for most Garda members the number of hours they work each week would be spread over a larger number of days, because shifts would be shorter, including eight-hour and 10-hour shifts. It is estimated some Garda members would lose up to €2,000 in allowances for unsocial hours.