Garda Representative Association to discuss roster dispute

A dispute between gardaí and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris over new rosters could deepen further on Wednesday when the force’s largest Garda association meets to discuss the issue.

A dispute between gardaí and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris over new rosters could deepen further on Wednesday when the force’s largest Garda association meets to discuss the issue.

The monthly meeting of the governing committee in the Garda Representative Association (GRA), whose 11,700 members work on the frontline, follows an emergency meeting by a sister staff body on Monday.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), the supervisory rank of GRA members, decided unanimously to institute a series of “days of action”, starting with a march on Garda HQ on Monday.

The AGSI said members were “angry and upset” that with just over five weeks to go, they did not know what their new rosters would be.

While indications suggest the GRA may not join their superiors in marches, sources said the association was at one with the AGSI in the view that internal talks on rosters had not been exhausted and that they should restart.

An official GRA update to members, issued last Friday, said they had received correspondence, sent on behalf of the commissioner.

The update stated that Garda management “would not be engaging in any further discussions” on rosters pending the conciliation services of the

Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

It said that on Friday morning, the GRA received correspondence from the WRC, inviting it, other Garda staff associations, the Department of Public Expenditure, and the Department of Justice to negotiations chaired by the WRC at a later date.

"We will now consider this invitation and these developments at CEC level this coming Wednesday and decide on our response and next steps," the GRA said.

“In the meantime, we will continue to demand an urgent long-term extension of the current contingency roster to provide some certainty to members.” 

Contingency roster

On Monday night, the commissioner decided to extend the contingency roster until September 3.

A Garda management message on the internal Garda website on Tuesday said this decision was delivering on a commitment the commissioner gave last January that members would receive three months' notice on the new roster.

“Commissioner Harris has repeatedly stated that the health and safety of members is of paramount importance to him and Garda senior management," the message said. 

It said that “following three years of discussions” on rosters with Garda associations, with no agreement, the commissioner’s view was that “all internal industrial relations processes have been exhausted”.