Council of Europe ruling sees gardai win right to strike

Ireland?s 13,000 garda? are entitled to be part of national pay talks and to strike, doing away with the need for bouts of "blue-flu".

Forbidden since their foundation to strike, the Association of Garda Inspectors and Sergeants (AGSI) took a case to the Council of Europe, complaining that their rights under the European Social Charter were being abused.

The Committee which oversees the Charter agreed with most of their case, which was taken on their behalf by EuroCOP, the umbrella body that represents EU police forces.

The win by the 2,000-strong AGSI will also apply to the Garda Representative Association. The Department of Justice was considering the decision.

John Jacob, deputy general secretary of the AGSI, said they were very pleased with the result after years of being prevented from representing themselves at talks that determined their pay and working conditions. ?We expect to be sitting around the table at the negotiations to follow up to the Haddington Road agreement, which we expect to begin early next year.?

On the right to strike, he said they were not planning to do so. ?Our main aim was to have a say in determining our pay and conditions.?

Last year, when they threatened to withdraw from the Croke Park 2 deal, they won the right to go to the Labour Relations Court, which was a breakthrough. But they were unclear whether this set a permanent precedent or not.

The GRA in the past applied pressure through bouts of ?blue-flu? where large numbers of their members took sick leave simultaneously. Freedom to strike would do away with this.

The garda? lost their bid to be allowed become a trade union with the finding that their associations were tantamount to a union. However, they were told they should have the right to affiliate to trade union groups, such as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Esther Lynch, ICTU legal affairs officer, said the ruling sets the record straight on the assumption that international law requires countries to ban their police taking part in trade union action.

?States can only restrict or deny rights in exceptional situations and where the State can give concrete examples of why the restrictions are ?justified, necessary, appropriate and proportionate?. Blanket bans, such as apply in Ireland, represent a violation of rights.?

EuroCOP president Anna Nellberg Dennis said the decision was a victory not only for the Garda, but would have important implications for forces across Europe. ?By highlighting the fundamental importance of police rights, and educating European police officers about their rights to organise and to bargain collectively, the Committee has helped us draw more attention to those Member States that are failing to adequately provide for the social rights of their police officers.?