THE PROSPECT of unprecedented industrial action by almost 12,000 rank and file gardaí has diminished following secret talks last Friday with senior Garda management.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) spoke to Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and agreed to survey its members on protesting about the reduction in their pay rather than hold a trade union-style ballot for industrial action. The development appears to have removed the possibility of Garda industrial action, at least in the short term.
The GRA had announced on December 7th its plans to hold the ballot, a move seen as highly controversial because gardaí take an oath of loyalty to the State and are banned from striking.
Any withdrawal of labour on the part of a Garda member carries a term of imprisonment of up to five years, as does inducing a member to withdraw their labour.
Announcing the ballot plan, GRA general secretary PJ Stone said his members had seen their pay reduced by up to €4,800 by levies before the public service pay cut was factored in.
He said the GRA, because it was not a trade union, had been excluded from the recent talks between unions and the Government on public sector reform. Mr Stone said his members felt worthless and valueless. The situation had become so bad that a ballot for industrial action was called for.
The GRA would worry about the legal ramifications if and when they arose, with Mr Stone saying “justice is worth fighting for”.
Mr Murphy called Mr Stone and GRA president Michael O’Boyce to his office at Garda Headquarters in Phoenix Park last Tuesday. He outlined to them the legal advice from the Attorney General on the implications for the GRA leadership and members if a ballot went ahead. Mr Murphy gave them a letter containing the advice and urged them to consider their plans and take legal advice.
The association’s resolve appeared steady even after Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern reminded them of the penalties associated with any industrial action, describing the ballot plan as an “affront to democracy”.
However, it became apparent on Friday afternoon that the GRA leadership was willing to compromise. In talks with Mr Murphy, the GRA said it would survey its near-12,000 members, rather than ballot for industrial action. It will now send a questionnaire gauging the members’ views on a range of options up to and including engaging in some form of industrial, or protest, action.
Crucially, the choices will be presented as a questionnaire rather than a ballot. The questionnaire will also remind members of the legal implications of voting in favour of industrial action.
GRA sources said it had only ever wanted a fact-gathering mission that would allow it measure its members’ feelings on what should be done over cuts to Garda pay. Government sources said the survey now planned was not illegal and had “taken the sting out” of what was initially planned.