Garda body will co-operate with Biden visit but may withdraw labour at later date over roster dispute

AGSI members will take industrial action ‘on a particular day’ if a resolution is not found and the dispute continues to escalate

Garda middle management will not take industrial action during the visit of US President Joe Biden next week but have promised to withdraw their labour at a later date if its concerns over rosters are not addressed.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) voted on Tuesday to co-operate “under protest” to facilitate Mr Biden’s five-day visit but “without future guarantees on co-operation on further VIP visits”.

AGSI general secretary Antoinette Cunningham said individual members have said they will withdraw labour “on a particular day if a resolution is not found and the dispute continues to escalate”.

The association also promised four more “days of action” to highlight their concerns around the roster issue. One will take place every month for the next four months.

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These days of action are expected to involve a protest march of gardaí to Garda Headquarters, rather than industrial action.

Ms Cunningham said AGSI’s general conference, which is taking place this week in Galway, agreed that all these actions will be set aside “if meaningful internal negotiations take place on rosters”.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris responded that he was “somewhat surprised” by the threat of escalation. He is pressing for the matter to go to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) as he believes the internal garda dispute resolution process has been exhausted. AGSI says any such move would be premature.

Mr Harris said gardaí have a responsibility to the State and to citizens to keep people safe. He said he believes he has been “incredibly patient” on the matter and that garda management has held 64 full days of negotiations with representatives.

The commissioner did not outright threaten disciplinary action against any gardaí for taking industrial action but pointed to the An Garda Síochána Act, which outlaws Garda strikes. “We have responsibilities which cannot be set aside due to industrial action. We must fufil those. The law makes that clear.”

The association has been locked in a dispute with the commissioner over the introduction of a new roster system for gardaí to replace the system in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many gardaí are against the proposed new roster on the basis it will mean more work on an annual basis and less opportunity for overtime.

“Roster certainty is something that all workers are entitled to and the effect of lack of certainty and predictability has now crept into members’ family homes and personal lives resulting in stress, anxiety and difficulties for members trying to balance work and their private lives,” AGSI President Paul Curran said in his address to the commissioner.

Separately, the commissioner has temporarily withdrawn a directive concerning the use of pronouns in the workplace, following resistance from AGSI leadership.

The Directive on Gender Identity mandated that gardaí transitioning gender should be addressed by their preferredidentity pronouns.

AGSI members used the conference to call for the withdrawal of the directive due to what they say is a lack of consultation and training.

On Tuesday, members were informed by Ms Cunningham that the directive has been temporarily suspended to allow for further consultation with Garda representative groups.

The association said the directive had been brought in without “consultation and awareness”.

Ms Cunningham said AGSI is “acutely aware of the rights of people to transition and be supported in doing so by workplace colleagues”.

However, in the absence of “an awareness and education programme”, it is unfair of management to issue the directive in its current form and “even more unfair is the threat of discipline hanging over us if we are misguided due to a lack of education”.

“There are a large number of people in the Garda organisation who are not aware of the rights and entitlements of people who want to transition and how on a practical basis they can be supported in the workplace,” she said.

Conor Gallagher

Conor Gallagher

Conor Gallagher is Crime and Security Correspondent of The Irish Times