Drew Harris warns gardaí of ‘very serious step’ to skip work in roster protest

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has warned mid-ranking gardaí that not showing up to work in protest over roster issues is a “very serious step to take”.

It comes after the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) outlined multiple measures of protest in a dispute relating to a roster established during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The AGSI has issued a mandate that individual may indicate their withdrawal of labour on a particular day if a resolution is not found and the dispute continues to escalate, in a process referred to as a “blue flu”.

Asked how he would respond to gardai who do not show up to work, Mr Harris said: “I will cross that bridge when I come to it. It hasn’t happened. When it’s happened previously it’s been dealt with in of a warning provided to the organisation.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said gardaí have taken an oath to uphold the constitution.

“That means upholding the rule of law in Ireland and that’s our immediate and direct responsibility every day, upholding the rule of law and protecting democracy – and we can’t waver in that.”

He said he believed of An Garda Síochána would “respond appropriately” with major operations and day-to-day work.

On the same programme, AGSI general secretary Antoinette Cunningham said the action would be “set aside” if the commissioner entered dialogue on rosters with the association.

“I suppose delegates are saying, ‘Look, if this dispute continues to escalate, and if there’s no forum for us to talk about things, we will demonstrate to you that that’s unacceptable to us’,” she said.

“They’re very serious concerns around their health and welfare and safety and wellbeing in relation to uncertainty.”

She said gardaí are prohibited in law from going on strike and that “is a limitation on our ability to negotiate”.

Asked how “not going to work in protest” differs from a strike, Ms Cunningham said: “On a particular day – and of course, you know, you can’t advocate or incite this as a leader in AGSI because it’s an offence – but individuals can make a decision themselves that by way of showing some form of protest, that that’s what they would choose to do.”

At the AGSI annual conference in Galway on Tuesday, a mandate was issued for to co-operate “under protest” for the visit of US president Joe Biden.

Ms Cunningham said every member will co-operate with all policing requirements for the presidential visit, but noted that annual leave days had been cancelled.

They gave no guarantees of future co-operation for other VIP visits.

“All things will be examined as they arise and are clarified,” she said, adding that it depends on whether the commissioner is willing to engage with them.

The AGSI protests include four further “days of action”.

Last month, the association marched to Garda headquarters on the first day of action.

At the end of the march, Ms Cunningham said the protest was a “clear sign of frustration” felt by over their working arrangements.

The AGSI said the roster has been extended 15 times in three years and imposed without agreement.

Ms Cunningham said some have to work 14 days out of every 16, while the previous roster was six days on and four days off.

While numbers of shifts have increased under the new arrangement, they are shorter.

The AGSI said it has appealed over the roster multiple times, but Mr Harris said the issues have been examined and have moved to an external process at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Ms Cunningham said there were internal mechanisms that had not been exhausted and it was premature to go to the WRC.