THE Michaelmas Term of the Home Circuit began yesterday with a number of issues, including the absence of almost all the judicial secretaries who reportedly stayed off the job to protest working conditions.

The occurrence came on a day that saw Chief Justice Zaila McCalla, who opened the new term, calling in open court for the conditions under which court staff work to be immediately addressed.

Only two of the approximately 10 secretaries, who serve the judges of the Supreme Court, turned up for work yesterday.

The secretaries have been restive from earlier this year over a broken air-conditioning unit that is on their offices.

Fans had been brought in but were not sufficient as the door to the offices are kept closed, trapping the hot air.

“They should have done this a long time ago,” a Supreme Court worker told the Jamaica Observer. “It’s because they sit down in the heat for so long why management believe that they didn’t have to fix the problem.”

Judges were reportedly left in a tailspin and some resorted to telephoning the secretaries, who reportedly called in sick, to enquire about the situation.

The Civil Registry of the Supreme Court is said also to have a broken air conditioning unit. Several workers have reportedly got sick because of the heat within the registry.

The other issues that faced the opening of the court term, was a broken printer in the Civil Registry and a shortage of papers to print on. The matter is said to have hampered operations there.