Link for who can and cannot join a union
Posted By: JustMe on 2008-06-01
In Reply to: Website link - JustMe
http://www.nlrb.gov/Workplace_Rights/i_am_new_to_this_website/
how_do_i_file_a_petition_to_start_or_remove_a_union.aspx
Its all one link, but I had to split it to get it to show up. Sorry about that.
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There is a Union for MTs to join
MTs have been able to join the National Writers Union http://www.nwu.org/nwu/ for several years, though very few have done so. Perhaps if more of us joined we might get somewhere. Worth a try anyhow, don't you think? We certainly don't have much more to lose.
you can join, no problem. If you write, you can join. nm
.
But if no union shop, no union representation
You can have a trade group represented by a union, as your husband is, but if he doesn't work in a union shop (company), the union can't represent him at his place of employment. Look at nurses, for example - there is a union for nurses, but the vast majority of nurses are not union members, because their places of employment are not unionized. So it's irrelevant to the majority of nurses that there is a union to represent them.
Your link is broken.....see inside for correct link:
xx
Oh, ok. Thanks. Maybe I will join you soon.
nm
We can do even more... we have to join
To all my fellow MDI'ers, I think it is time to tighten up the bootstraps and starting thinking out of the box. Let's get together in private, put our thinking caps on, combine resources, and see what we can do for ourselves and each other. Every email will be confidential... we still have our integrity! Write to AmericanMT@yahoo.com
Are the people who join
and currently work for them kept confidential??
Can I come join you in La La Land?
Your dreamin.
Hey can i still join the survey? nm
x
how do you join it? When I clicked sm
on join, it just came up a message that this was private or something like that. What process do you go through to join this group?
join forces
Hi, I'm a fellow MDIer and am interested in hearing from others who are interested in a private group. I am kicking around the idea of trying to start a Co-op of something of the sort, I'm looking for resources and ideas from others who might be interested in starting our own company... not me personally, but as a group creating our own company. Surely it can be done! Americanmt@yahoo.com, spread the word and I hope to hear from you!
OK, on the home page i am looking at, there is NO Join Us.
I'm dead serious. There is NOTHING on the site I am looking at for Join us or send a picture. www.synthescribeofamerica.com 
So you will tell a person to join, knowing they won't
xx
You could try to find out if account gone and then try to join
xx
If IC's can't join EXISTING unions, then maybe
it's time for MTs to form a union that DOES include IC's, especially since they are a large part of this industry. They deserve better wages, too.
I will join you at the bottom, no jobs for me either..nm
nm
I'm not exactly sure - feedback from those who would join an MDI forum?
I don't know that I can answer that directly. I know I would be interested in participating and (maybe) even trying to set it up... I was just trying to encourage all of us to come up with something, as I thought the original poster had a great idea. Your idea sounds like one that would work.
So the poster who got the thread started seem to want to be able to talk privately without any mgmt of MDI being able to see. But, even with a Yahoo group and using anonymous emails, really there is no way to monitor who is who. I'm not sure I would want to be the one excluding anyone anyway. The bottom line, it seems to me, that even with the most private of groups such as this, what we share still may make it out of the privacy of that group, and all would just have to be aware.
Feedback from others who would join - What kind of group would be ideal? Would you feel any more safe to share in the kind of group mentioned above?
join forces, anyone game?
To all my fellow MDI'ers, I think it is time to tighten up the bootstraps and starting thinking out of the box. Let's get together in private, put our thinking caps on, combine resources, and see what we can do for ourselves and each other. Every email will be confidential... we still have our integrity! Write to AmericanMT@yahoo.com
MDI'ers we need to join forces
I am brand new to MTStars and can't seem to figure things out. I am floating the idea of maybe we join forces, perhaps try to form a Co-op, and maybe if we combine we could start our own company. Maybe a pipedream, but I believe it can be done. We all have resources, we all have brains, and we have been told we are the best in the business. Please help me spread the word, please contact me privately, and let's figure out a way that we can get off of MTstars, start communicating privately so that we can actually be productive. We do have options but time to do away with the anger and starting thinking out of the box. Will you guys please help me?
Time to join forces
I am a fellow MDIer. I am trying to refocus what little energy I have left in getting us organized, getting us together so that we can collectively put on our thinking caps and try to figure out our next step. I am thinking that if we can contact enough people, combine our brains and resources, maybe we will be able to do some constructive, like maybe start our own company/CO-OP. Please contact me T my private and confidential email address which I have set up exclusively for this reason. Thanks! AmericanMT@yahoo.com
I'm so glad you decided to join us, Jeannal! Welcome to Diskriter!
Glad you're having as good an experience as I've had.
Join the club, I quit a few weeks ago. Good luck...nm
xxx
we CAN get a union
It takes hard work and yes, they will launch an all-out war against us *malcontents who probably are louse MTs anyway* but it has been done before against greater odds and CAN BE DONE AGAIN. It just takes a few people of like minds and determination.
Union for MTs
MTs may join the National Writers Union. This union could help us if more MTs would join. It is a good deal for ICs because one can get health insurance through it. http://www.nwu.org/
MT Union
MTs may join the National Writers Union http://www.nwu.org/nwu/. I am a member and have spoken to them about MT. They say they would very much like to help us, but very few MTs are members. Membership has another benefit as well. I have picked up various typing/editing jobs unrelated to MT from time to time. They also offer medical benefits.
union
I would support it.
i am in a union..sm
our union ratifies our contract every 3 yrs.
Union
Is there a court reporter's union? I think we might fit better there. One thing is obvious. We would need a central site to air our grievances and organize. I'm not sure if this forum is willing to allow that. This is something we should have been discussing years ago.
What is the name of your union?
I'm sure we would all like to know.
Where's the union?
I feel the same as anyone on the India thing, as I have QA'd their reports for a certain company and it was horrendously bad.
My question though is... everyone keeps complaining, but I have yet to see anyone form a union, to which I and I am sure many many others would join.
Where's the action behind the anger and the talk?
Union
I worked in a hospital where the transcriptionists were unionized, for some reason we were part of the United Steel Workers union (don't aske me what that has to do with healthcare). It included all non-clinical employees of the hospital.
I am in a union...sm
At a local hospital. Our Union ratifies our contract every 3 years. In fact, it renews again this month.
union
JustMe. Because this is an anonymous board, many of us MTs don't know if we are chatting with MTSO sup or managers.
If you can get ONE union rep with a legitimate web page, I think we'd all being willing to go their and sign up with a disposable email address.
At least, that is a start to us coming togeter. We can have state leaders and go from their with one union rep.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I'm in a union...sm
And we have the same problem of losing our positions to outsourcing--maybe not as quickly, but we are the last hospital in my state who have in-house remote employees who work at home. We slipped through last year, but it's a matter of time before they cut us.
Union
If there was a way to do it, I would. I am not a super hard nosed union type, but I know what the teacher's union here in our town has done for our teachers. Not only that, but I am also one of those who are disabled and need to work from home. If a union would protect that option as well as help promote MT as a solid work at home solution to many who can do this type of work from home instead of drawing disability, well, I am all for that.
Anne
RE: Union
I've seen the good and the bad a union can do. If we were to unionize, do you not think that we would be risking putting ourselves out of jobs? Some MTSOs cannot afford to pay 10 cpl. I know that most can, Medquist and the other biggies. But what about the smaller ones that don't have a ton of accounts? Some of us have jobs with them and are quite happy because while we're not making 10 cpl, we do have plenty of work, our boss is not over hiring and we are treated decently. If you start to force the companies to pay more, we're going to be out of work and back to either working in-house or somewhere else out of our field of expertise. I've also seen the unions 'fight' for the worker, meaning .25 cents more a pay period, while at the same time the insurance premiums per paycheck went up just enough to eat that raise, while giving less coverage. And while I may not be talking about unions for MTs, really it does not matter what industry you're talking about, the unions are fighting for themselves. It'd be great to be paid what we deserve. I personally know an MTSO that could pay more but chooses not to. She'd rather hire MTs at a disgraceful rate and give 1/4 cent raises when she remembers. Those MTSOs do need to stop screwing with us. In the same vein though, MTSOs like that don't keep quality MTs. They lose them to companies that are fair, or at least try to be. I really don't see anything changing for us. We're not really considered at all in the grand scheme of things except when the reports are late or wrong. Merry Christmas.
Not a union fan.
You have an interesting viewpoint, Union Now. At first I skimmed your post because I am not interested in a union and I tend to avoid the posts that proclaim that's what we need to do. Then I went and re-read it and my second reaction (first being boredom and amusement at a couple of typos) was could you be any more condescending?
I suppose you would consider me one of the GRATEFUL faction. I am grateful that I have steady income and it's an income that can be as big or as little as I choose to make it. Maybe that makes me naive in your eyes. I lost a very well paying job of 4 1/2 years duration last year with about 2 months' notice. My then-employer was a man who I had known for 30 years. I had watched his kids for him when they were little. This man used the phrase I'm throwing you all under rthe bus when he informed us that he was selling the agency and we may or may not be hired by the new administration. I was at the mercy of a 57-year-old man having a mid-life crisis. Now I make a decent wage that allows me to pay my mortgage and my bills and I have a very nice roof over my head. And I know I can always find a job somewhere doing this kind of work.
My rambling, probably boring point is that I am indeed grateful to have employment and to have a steady income. Is Voice Recognition the way of the future? Very probably. Is it going to put us out of work? I don't think so. Not unless they make those programs a whole lot better and not unless they magically make doctors and PAs slow down and enunciate. We all know THAT ain't gonna happen.
Why does it seem that so many people are entrenched in only one way of doing things? Why does it seem that the refrain that I hear a lot is but this is the way we've always done it? Just because that's the way something has always been done doesn't mean that it's the best way or the only way.
Personally, I think we sell ourselves short if we stay entrenched in the past and refuse to learn new technology and new technique. We only end up hurting ourselves that way. I don't think a union will do anything except force even more off shoring even faster. You think hospitals are going to go union and pay higher union wages and benefits when they have options in India and the Phillipines? Why do you think so much other American manufacturing and industry has gone overseas? Unions, my friend. Unions. They served their part in the past. They served a very good part in the past. I firmly believe their time has come and gone, though. The fact that information can be sent around the world in nanoseconds completely changes the game.
All a union would accomplish (in my admittedly limited viewpoint) is to ensure that bad MT's stay employed and good MT's don't get as far as they could on their own. In my mind unions tend to pander to the lowest common denominator. If you're good at what you do, I don't think you'll have any problems.
So yes, for those of you who have gotten this far and whose eyes haven't crossed yet, I am grateful to have a job. I actually have 2 jobs and I'm grateful for them both. I know I can pay my mortgage and keep the lights on and buy cat food. That last part is important - the little varmints outnumber me. I don't plan on rocking any of my financial boats in the near future with the global economy tanking like it is. If we knock over our boat, there are 100 other people here in the US and abroad who are happy to take over from us.
Union
Don't be so sure. As for Detroit, they were making more money than the collective bunch of us would see in 100 lifetimes. It was not the unions, but the big shots who controlled the $$$$. If it wasn't for unions, my dear, we would be working 12 hours a day 7 days a week with no BENEFITS. You forget what our forefathers fought for, but there are many of us who do not. I say that those of us who are interested, when we find a representative union, such as SEIU, should all agree to meet in D.C. or better yet where ever our headquarters is now.
We will at least give it a try. Do we really have anything else to lose? Count me in.
union
We are not talking the same sort of things that happened with the steel mills, etc., we are talking about being represented and treated fairly. Unless we do something, we won't be able to keep typing for the Q as the electric bill might not get paid, no electric, no type. There is not a one of us who are thinking in terms of driving cadillacs and going to Hawaii 3 or 4 times a year;no it is to make a decent wage, keep the decent wage, and not be subject to random wage cuts at the mere discretion of the company. Representation. Maybe there are some bad things along with the good, but if we keep going the way we are, well then.....you fill in the blanks. I was a union steward for 22 years. It is not easy to fight for what is right. It is not easy to go against those who are paying the meager wages, but sometimes the time comes to pull up the bootstraps and take care of us.
union
Ok, I will come back on this board in 1 year from now and I want to hear what you have to say then, after you have had your fill of the changes, the crap, the lousy money, etc. NObody is happy with the Q as it is. If you are, then there is something wrong with you. Oh, you are probably one who would be against unionizing for representation, bitch and moan about it, but accept whatever contract the members accepted.
And those of us who do not want a union?
If this movement to start an MT union goes forward and actually happens, then what happens to those of us who have seen the negative side of unions and decline to participate? Are we then treated like scabs, bullied and harrassed, unable to find work because we decide to not joint a club that takes our money and gives nothing in return? Are we going to be ostracized? What happens when this union organizes and immediately goes on strike because X company will not pay them X per line, plus hourly plus benefits?
Like someone posted below, what happens to those of us who are ICs? I am not able to work a set shift for various personal reasons, and so where would that leave me? I have to have IC status in order to work.
Also, what happens when all the US based companies decide to take ALL their business overseas because of the unionization of their workforce?
I agree there needs to be a standard for the industry other than the AHDI or whatever they are calling themselves these days, but a union is only going to benefit a few. What I have personally experienced with a union is that it drives the cost of operation for a company through the roof, and companies are in business to make money, not support people. Also, the good, hard workers (for the most part) carry a lazy, inefficient work pool who refuse to do hard jobs because they are union and you can't fire a union worker.
Basically, unions do not work for the honest folks who work their tails off to make a living. They do work for the ones who think they deserve ____(fill in whatever you would like) because they are special because they belong to a union.
Just saying my piece, and thank you for letting me vent.
Yes, of course I do. I'm pro-union.
x
union..
does have its benes. My union dues are only $40/m. I get paid $23/h plus incentive. I can take a total of 12 WEEKS per year of PTO. Full medical benes.
if this is about union -
and that survey in your post has rates anything near where it is headed - I'll do better without a union.
leave it alone is my vote. MTSOs charge what they can get by proposal and we are at a set rate lower than anything in my tenure?
Here's one - how about just setting a percentage of what the MTSO charges - whatever that may be? That just might get the MTSOs back to COMPETING FOR US AGAIN.
Here's another - stop the head butting and belly bucking and make us all SALARY. Lose nothing per overhire, low workflow, routing favorites, and cherry pickers etc., etc., etc.
sorry - venting
Name that union.
?
I think we need a union - nm
x
Re: Union
Some sort of organization would work. If MTs could ban together and demand FAIR wages, the companies would have to comply. They wouldn't have a choice and it wouldn't hurt them to do so.
In many companies, the main bottleneck in increasing wages is not the economy (especially in the medical field), but top management and the recruiters. Usually they are lacking any background in transcription or working in a production based environment. These armchair decision makers usually do not understand and appreciate the potential of and opportunities in raising productivity through higher wages; they fail to see it as the ultimate weapon in increasing competitiveness. And subcontractors? Well, these companies will not last very long.
What many of these low paying companies fail to consider is that any wage hike can be more than offset by increasing productivity. Offering higher wages should be taken positively as a challenge to improve efficiency and keep clients and MTs happy, rather than negatively. The cost they are paying for unhappy employees that don't produce and have a lack in skill is FAR greater than a secure able employee being productive. They can't keep their present employees happy, so they post over and over on the job boards trying to replace them. Yes, someone will take the lower wage, but just as I said about companies not lasting long, neither will the employee accepting peanuts.
So, what should the name of our organization be? 
then demand a union instead
otherwise shut up.
Agree with Union
I agree, I think that there should be a union.
THANK YOU for that - UNION BUSTERS
are everwhere -
Unions can/do have problems, but that doesn't mean they aren't very effective as well.
We don't have many weapons against the CORPORATION who(m) Congress has given IMMENSE power and UNaccountability to - we should NEVER let them take away the right to unionize - unless we are actually ready for virtual slavery.
I don't think many would know how to go about forming a union. SM
I myself wouldn't know the first thing about where to begin. I read almost all of the posts and there are some really intelligent people out there. It would be my hope that someone with all that intelligence and savy would know what to do and where to begin and just maybe start the ball rolling.
With all the thousands of MTs, it seems like someone out there could do something.
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