Court stenographers await promotion exercise

Mon, Apr 20th 2015, 12:34 AM

After a 10-year-long wait, 18 stenographers are still waiting on promotions.

Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) President John Pinder said, "It is my information that there was some hold up regarding the new career path. A number of them have been approved and since the finances are approved it should all move forward."

The stenographers are all civil servants who have been overlooked for advancement when other departments in the civil service had promotions.

Recently, 22 contracted stenographers got promotions, which placed them on a higher pay scale than their civil servant counterparts.

Although the union had negotiated for the contracted workers to join the civil service to qualify for pension benefits, it did not receive Cabinet approval.

The contracted workers had also hoped to become permanent in accordance with the 2004 recommendation to end the dual system which fostered tension between contracted workers and the civil servants.

The government continued the contract that the 22 workers had entered into with LET Consultancy when it prematurely terminated that company's contract last December. That contract expired on September 30 and the reporters were working monthly.

Court reporting was first introduced to The Bahamas in 1989 by Czerenda Court Reporting Service (CCRS), which was owned by American Randal Czerenda. CCRS continued to provide the service until 1999, when the contract was awarded to Ludell Theophilus of L.E.T. consultancy.

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