Special pandemic roster for gardaí extended in effort to defuse row

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has moved to defuse a deepening row over Garda rosters by extending the special pandemic rosters for another six months. The move came on Monday night just hours after Garda sergeants and inspectors decided to engage in “days of action”.

They also raised the possibility they may withdraw their service, a strike in all but name, if new rostering was introduced.

Those proposed new rosters, which Garda members say will result in more working days and a loss of allowances, had been earmarked for introduction in mid-April. They would have replaced the Covid-19 rosters, under which Garda members work 12-hour shifts, with new shorter and more frequent shifts.

On Monday morning, 140 members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) met in Athlone, Co Westmeath, and unanimously agreed to engage in “days of action”.

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The first such day is scheduled for next Monday, when 100 off duty members of Agsi are due to hold a protest march to Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, and hand in a letter with their complaints about the new proposed rosters.

Agsi general secretary, Antoinette Cunningham, said on Monday that, depending on the response to their march and letter, further days of action would be discussed at the association’s annual conference in Galway early next month. She said she could not rule out the possibility her members may decide, as individuals rather than in an Agsi-organised move, to withdraw their service in protest.

Garda members are not permitted to engage in strike action and organising any such action is an offence.

Ms Cunningham said her members were very angry about the rosters situation and the uncertainty it created for their working lives. She added relations between her association and senior Garda management were close to complete breakdown.

However, last night Garda members were informed in an internal memo from Garda Headquarters that the current pandemic roster, based mainly on 12-hour shifts, would remain in place until September 3rd. That six-month window will now allow time for the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to bring in all the parties and try to reach agreement after three years of talks failed.

[ Q&A: So, how many hours do gardaí work and will they actually go on ‘strike’? ]

In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said Mr Harris last month wrote to the WRC to request assistance from its conciliation service on the reform of the Garda rosters. The WRC has since confirmed its services would be available and Mr Harris hoped the Garda staff associations would agree to attend.

Despite three years of talks, and all mechanisms within the Garda having being exhausted with no consensus, Mr Harris was committed to “reaching a solution as soon as possible”.

Whatever roster was put in place, it should be one that “serves the public and supports the most vulnerable in society, ensures the health and wellbeing of gardaí, and allows the commissioner to effectively and efficiently manage the organisation within the budget available”.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, gardaí have been on a special roster that maximises the numbers on duty and means members working four 12-hour days followed by four days off.

These rosters have proven very popular as it means Garda members work more of their hours in fewer days, which is seen as more family-friendly.

It also reduces the costs associated with travelling to work, especially fuel. The 12-hour shifts also mean a bump in unsocial hours allowances.

Mr Harris wants to introduce new arrangements which, he says, better meet the changing policing demands in the Republic. The matter has become something of a battle between him and the Garda staff associations and on Monday threatened to escalate sharply.

When negotiations in recent years failed to reach agreement, a facilitator was brought in, though both AGSI and the GRA refused to accept its conclusions.

The proposed new rostering system would mean gardaí rostered for a mixture of eight-, 10- and 12-hour shifts. Frontline gardaí who have to work a mixture of night and day shifts would be mostly on 12-hour rosters.

Non-core gardaí, such as detectives, community policing officers and others who are not rostered on a 24-7 basis, will mostly be on eight-hour shifts. It is being opposed on the grounds it involves fewer days off and, some Garda members say, a loss in allowances of up to €2,000 annually. The new proposed roster is also seen as less predictable.