Court reporters remain disgruntled even after meeting with chief justice
Some court reports were no less disgruntled following a lengthy meeting with Chief Justice Bryan Sykes at the Supreme Court in Kingston Monday (Sept 16).
The high court system across the island was brought to a halt Monday after court reporters staged a sit in to protest again their working condition. The staffers were also disgruntled about their wages. They are asking for urgent reclassification of their posts as they are being paid in the same scale as secretaries.
Several court reporters said they were not happy with some of the suggestions put forward by the chief justice. They have frowned on the suggestion that one court reporter must take notes during a judge’s summation which can last for more than three hours. The reporters are contending that it takes a lot of concentration to do summations and therefore at least two court reporters should be taking notes.
For more
than a year now, the court reporters said they have made numerous complaints
about the lack of proper toilet facilities but to date nothing has been done. They
said they are still using a gallon bottle to scoop water from a drum to
flush the toilet, as there is no water in the pipe.
The reporters said that when they go to the Circuit Courts in other parishes, there are no proper facilities for them, and not even desks are provided. Seversl court reporters said they will continue to protest if the conditions are not improved quickly.
