Gardaí have announced the four dates in November that they will take proposed industrial action in an effort to highlight issues regarding their pay and work conditions.
In 1998, 5,000 members of the force called in sick, which was then called ‘Blue Flu Friday.
However, four dates have been announced across November, and experts are expecting the ramifications to be much worse than that of the 1998 strike action.
Rank-and-file Gardaí will take industrial action on consecutive Friday’s on November 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th.
The strike action was proposed after members of the GRA rejected the union’s new pay deal.
Since the recession kicked in in 2009, despite multiple warnings of the damage it would do to our national police force, Garda resources have been slashed almost beyond repair.
Union members will down tools on the days in question.
The GRA said today that emergency services will still be available on the day but there will be no Gardaí answering calls in stations, no Gardaí on the beat and no interaction with the public.
Are the Gardaí right to take industrial strike action? Or should they have accepted the pay deal tabled by the union?
