Court stenographers protest working conditions

AROUND 20 stenographers of the Nicosia Courts went on strike yesterday in protest over working conditions.

The strike, which lasted around two hours and saw most of yesterday’s criminal and legal cases grind to a halt for most of the morning, came as workers claimed their “pleas were being ignored” by administrators at the court.
The stenographers say they are subjected to an “overload of work because they are short-staffed”, while some stenographers have problems with their hands because of excessive writing.

According to their announcement, three women have already been forced to have surgery on their hands because of complications that have arisen due to too much work.
Apart from problems with their hands, the women are claiming that other health issues, such as pregnancy, are also being overlooked.

The women are also complaining that they are short-staffed and that apart from dictating from the judge that they are assigned too, they are sometimes also made to go to other courts to cover for the stenographer on leave.
Other issues include bonuses and overtime, which they state are “disproportionately low compared to the work that they do”.

One stenographer yesterday told the Cyprus Mail, “The responsibility that we have as stenographers is very big and it is not fair that we should have to work in such strenuous conditions.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.