RANK AND file gardaí have voted by a margin of three to one to accept the terms of the Croke Park deal on public sector pay and reform.
The results of the ballot of members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) were made public last night. The size of the 75 per cent “yes” vote by the rank and file gardaí, who number around 12,000 in a force of 14,500, has come as a surprise.
The leadership of the association had previously voiced their strong opposition to the deal. They had clashed with Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern when they threatened to hold a ballot for industrial action.
The move was seen as highly controversial because it is illegal for a member of the force to take industrial action or even for a Garda staff association to hold a ballot for such action.
However, despite their initial hardline stance, the leadership of the GRA stopped short of recommending to their members rejection or acceptance of the deal.
The association said in a statement last night it was now committed to negotiations with the Government on the transformation agenda under the deal.
Many gardaí are believed to have voted “yes” because the deal effectively guarantees no further pay cuts.
GRA general secretary PJ Stone said: “We are living in uncertain times. The Government is attempting to reassure Ireland the worst is over and is attempting to balance the books by cutting spending. Our duty is to ensure our members are not subjected to further pay cuts, having already suffered five cuts; typically taking home €5,000 less this year than in 2008.”
Mr Stone added while his members must now agree to new rostering arrangements, these would be rolled out on a pilot basis at first to test their effectiveness.
However, he said the association was still operating in a vacuum in relation to the rostering reforms because there were “no concrete proposals”.
He believed current rostering arrangements did not comply with European working time directives.
The GRA would now consult with police forces in other jurisdictions to determine international best practice in police rostering.
Mr Stone added it was unacceptable that the GRA did not have trade union status. Gardaí were also denied access to the Labour Relations Commission.