CLERKS at Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court who are unhappy with the horrid office conditions embarked on the first of a two-day sick-out on Tuesday, which impacted operations.

One of the clerks told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday that if their problems are not addressed immediately they are prepared to go the long haul with more industrial action, which could severely affect the operation of the court.

Their grouse stems from the fact that undesirable conditions, mainly poor air quality, forced them out of their original office in 2023. They said that from last year, because of their frequent complaints they were relocated to what was then the sickbay, which is a much tighter space than their original office. According to one of the clerks, the cluttered, uncomfortable space they were relocated to sometimes causes files crucial to cases in court to get mixed up or misplaced, among a host of other problems.

“People end up in court with another clerk’s file and they end up with your file. The mix-up causes files to also go missing. The new senior judge brought it up to Court Administration Division (CAD) again and again and we get the same old story,” the source, who did not wish to be identified, claimed.

One clerk said that after hearing countless times that the authorities were moving to have the office repaired, they cannot understand why it is taking so long to move from the procurement stage to actual action.

“From around May last year the office had a dingy smell, kind of musty. We were told that it may be mould but they weren’t sure. [During rains] in August, thereabout, the ceiling in the office we were in started to look a lot like mould. We complained about it as we didn’t feel safe being in there. The senior judge at the time, in an effort to mellow the situation, had someone clean out the sickbay and had them put three desks and a couple chairs in there.

“We had, at the time, about six or seven clerks working with; some of them would work in their cars and the rest of us would work in the sickbay. When people talk in the sick bay you hear what everybody is saying, and you can’t take a phone call in peace because it is such a small space. About two of my colleagues will work in their cars because it is easier to focus and they get a lot more work done.

“Those of us who can work in the noise, we manage. We have been in there since October last year. Every staff meeting, what we hear is that it is at procurement and it wouldn’t take a long time. That was October last year. We are now in October in a new year. In January, when we started back after the holiday, we asked again, ‘Where is the office?’ The same old story was repeated, that it is at procurement,” the clerk stated.

The clerk said that in April this year, they got a new senior judge, who was brought up to speed with the problem. Despite her lobbying on behalf of the clerks, nothing has been done to fix the problem.

“April when the new senior judge came, we told her we were uncomfortable and it was just not convenient to be working here. In August the senior judge spoke to CAD again and told them that it is affecting our output at work. At the end of August we sent them a letter with our demands — we told them that it was just not working out because the sickbay is in no condition for anybody to be in. We took pictures of the tiles on the ground that are broken up. If you are not careful, you will bump your toe on the tiles and fall — and that has happened.

“The window to the bathroom cannot be closed, and when it rains the water blows in and we have a little flooding. We have a clerk there who is pregnant. She bumped her toe on the tile. Thankfully, she didn’t fall. You can understand how frustrating it would be for every day you getting up going to work and going to court to fight for justice when you yourself are suffering a great injustice.”

They said to add insult to injury, from last year until now there has been no official report indicating what was the actual problem in their original office. One clerk said that while everyone from the office feels it was mould in the ceiling, they were told recently this was not the case. The clerk said they were told the condition in their original office manifested when steel got exposed to moisture.

“They are yet to give us a date and time as to when we can come out of the sickbay to go back into an office where we can actually function. Right now, we are not functioning. We don’t have any interest to go to work. We are frustrated, because every day we come down here and we can’t work in peace. The desks are round, so we don’t have a lot of space to work with. There are two clerks to a desk. If one clerk wants to eat, another clerk has to get up, and if all of us are in there doing work, two people have to sit on the bed. One clerk has developed severe backaches because she has been working on the bed. The constant slouching over on the bed causes her back to hurt her a lot.

“We still have to stand up in court because our job is a standing job; we have to stand up in court on a sick back. In the letter we sent them we gave them the deadline of September 30 to give us back a proper working space. September 30 was yesterday [Monday] and we have not received a response to our letter. They are basically ignoring us.

“They said that they painted over the roof and that it is not mould. Two courts have to be in one, and they have to utilise deputy clerks who are not in a position to handle court. Operations have been impacted, especially the mention court, which is Court 2. We have been talking and playing nice and nothing is being done. We are fed up and at the breaking point now. Should this two days not be effective, we are willing to go for a much longer period — which will definitely have an impact. We are prepared to go the long haul,” warned the clerk.