'It's a huge step, not taken lightly' - garda strike

A decision by rank-and-file gardaí to stage a series of 24-hour “strikes” next month has “not been taken lightly” a senior garda representative has said.
James Morrisroe of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has reminded that gardaí are members of the public too, many with families, who are also set to be affected by the mass “withdrawal of service” scheduled to take place from 7am to 7am on four Fridays in November.
“It’s a decision that has not been taken lightly. The final provisional document that was put to us fell way below what we had anticipated. Our red line issues are no more working hours for free and also that the government needs to start talking about pay restoration back to 2008 levels. Neither were addressed in the document, so it was always destined to fail,” Garda Morrisroe told The Anglo-Celt.
Last month 10,500 members of the GRA voted overwhelmingly in support of what is effectively strike action. Should the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) also vote to join the strike action at its delegate conference later this month, the impact could result in an unprecedented depletion of the force nationwide.
If the AGSI members do side with the GRA, it would leave in the region of 160 superintendents, 42 chief superintendents and eight commissioners, including chief Noirin O’Sulllivan manning the force, according to garda figures.
The most recent figures show there are currently 318 members, with 15 reserves and 35 civilians assigned to the Cavan/Monaghan Garda Division.
That figure has fallen from 397 serving members just over five years ago.
The unprecedented withdrawal of services by the GRA is the first major escalation in industrial action since the so-called 'Blue Flu’ in 1998, when gardaí effectively took sick leave en masse to get around a legal ban on members going on strike.

Two-tier system
The GRA has called on the government to restore full public service pay at rates before the imposition of austerity cuts, and an end to the two-tier system affecting payments to new recruits. At present the starting salary for a new garda is somewhere around €23,000, whereas back in 2008 it was around €31,000.
“It’s the worst in the public service. While they addressed the issue of possible rent allowance reinstatement, about €4,000 a year, they didn’t address the starting salary, which is way below what it should be. I’ve been talking to some of those members affected and they still weren’t in favour in any way, shape or form of the agreement,” Gda Morrisroe told the Celt.
While emergency services will be still be available, on the planned strike days gardaí will not be answering calls, nor is it expected that they will be patrolling the streets.
However, Gda Morrisroe suggests that full logistics of the planned strike have not been worked out yet.
“We’re four maybe five weeks away from it yet, but it’s a huge step, it wasn’t taken lightly. I have family, I’m a member of the public myself as much as anybody, that is important to remember too. It’s not something we wanted to do, but we have been forced into a corner. For four years now there was a ruling in the European Courts now that says we should have the right to strike. The government have chosen to ignore that, they haven’t led us on it, so we are backed into a corner, and this is where we now are,” he said.