Angry gardai will take a “day of action” in a row over proposed rosters and plan to march to their headquarters next week in protest.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors met in Athlone, Co Westmeath, yesterday for a special delegate conference – the second in its 45-year history – and was mandated to make the move. It said it was doing so because of the failure of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to appropriately address health, safety and welfare concerns in relation to the roster.
Next Monday, 100 members of AGSI will march to HQ and hand him a letter outlining their concerns. It is part one of a two-pronged strategy in which the initial focus for the next four weeks will be on the health, safety and welfare of AGSI members. And it insisted if matters are not addressed satisfactorily this will elevate at the annual delegate conference next month to phase two, which will be a discussion on a mandate for all forms of industrial action.
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AGSI General Secretary Antoinette Cunningham said members are “angry, upset and frustrated” that just over five weeks from now they do not know what their work pattern is. She added: “In March 2020 members moved overnight to a new roster to police the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Undertakings by the Garda Commissioner we would return to our normal working patterns have not been honoured. A ballot of the membership on new roster proposals was rejected by AGSI members in October 2022 and a dispute on the matter commenced then.
“We have sought that roster negotiations are re-opened but the Garda Commissioner has refused. The membership is demanding action and the National Executive will deliver the very clear mandate that was issued to them today.”
The proposed working time agreement was agreed to by Garda management and the Superintendents Association and the Chief Superintendents Association. But the Garda Representative Association and AGSI rejected it.
The Commissioner referred the roster dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission last month. He claims all internal industrial relations processes have been exhausted following three years of talks between management in the force and representative bodies.
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