THOUSANDS OF rank-and-file gardaí marched through Dublin city centre yesterday in protest at the Government’s proposed pension levy and with a demand for the right to organise in trade unions.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said up to 2,000 off-duty gardaí from around the country had turned out for the march which they said was only the beginning of their campaign.
GRA general secretary PJ Stone told protesters the group would “not tolerate the intrusion by this Government into your pay and taking money out of your hard-earned earnings when you are out 24/7 protecting the people of this State”.
He said gardaí were not trying to set themselves apart from society. “We recognise the pain that some people in your families have already experienced as a result of job losses.
“What we are saying is that we have a difficulty with a Government that has a philosophical fear of taxing those who can well afford to pay”, while targeting private and public workers who were a “soft touch”.
Addressing the crowd in front of Leinster House, Mr Stone warned that GRA members would vent their anger on politicians in upcoming elections. “When you look at your reflection in the eyes of the people who come to you to seek your support . . . remember this day, remember what they have done to you. And we will say, and we are going to say from now on: ‘we shall not forget’.”
He warned the Government: “This is the start of our campaign, it is not the end.” The crowd, some of whom were carrying banners reading “Share The Pain” and “Angry, Betrayed, Disillusioned”, cheered loudly as Mr Stone warned the Government: “We are not going away.”
Speaking to The Irish Times before the march, he said the march was “our show to Government from the people of the Garda Síochána who don’t have the right to take industrial relations issues to anywhere, that they are unhappy with the way they are being treated.
“The right to strike is in my view a very basic issue, but they should have the right to be able to engage in areas and forums” such as the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court “where an independent person will decide that, yes, what’s been done is right or what’s been done is wrong”.
GRA president Michael O’Boyce said GRA members had been “forced on to the streets” because of “Government recklessness” in handling the economy.
