Those wanting to unionize should probably
Posted By: read this ... on 2008-12-23
In Reply to: And those of us who do not want a union? - Anon
Friday, July 18, 2008
When management becomes unreasonable, when benefits shrink and get more expensive at the same time, and when the average salary increase is way
less than the inflation rate, here’s something you can do: Form a union.
And on Long Island, you wouldn’t be alone. Just don’t let management know what you’re up to – it could get you in trouble.
There are already 650,000 construction workers, teachers and grocery and health care workers in unions on Long Island today, and as economic conditions
worsen, some employees are hoping to take cover by turning to organized labor.
John Durso, president of Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW and the Long Island Federation of Labor, said frustrated employees generally meet off-site to air their
grievances without fear of retribution.
“Sometimes they just want to get things off their chest, want somebody to listen,” Durso said.
Sometimes, however, it’s a lot more than that. If one-third of the employees sign on to join the union, an election is held and a petition is filed with the
National Labor Relations Board.
And that often leads to a fight.
It shouldn’t, Durso said. He said in the best circumstances, unions and employers work as partners to make a company better.
“It doesn’t make any sense for a union to make it so unworkable that an employer cannot grow or expand,” Durso said. “If you have the right attitude, the
right work environment, there’s no reason why an employer and a union cannot work together.”
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Companies faced with negotiating contracts with unions could stall, because if a deal isn’t reached within a year,
the union needs to be recertified.
“Nothing in law requires them to reach a contract. They are just required to negotiate in good faith,” said Bruce Millman, an attorney with Melville employment
law firm Littler Mendelson, representing employers.
To fight the stalling, unions are pushing federal lawmakers to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier to form a union. It would also
force binding arbitration in case of an impasse, thus eliminating stall tactics.
But Bob Archer, managing partner of Melville’s Archer, Byington, Glennon and Levine, which represents labor and employee benefits clients in the building
trades, entertainment and service industries, said he doesn’t expect the Employee Free Choice Act to pass under a Republican president.
Not all contracts stall, however, and once a first contract is reached, the union is official. Then members need only to pay a set amount of dues each year.
In 2004, the latest year with complete data, dues nationwide averaged $377 per month.
Another interesting note: Long Island’s unions are becoming more white collar.
For instance, adjunct professors at Stony Brook University and New York University recently became union employees, said Tom Conoscenti, chief
economist for the Long Island Contractors Association and the Long Island Builders Institute.
He said the adjuncts formed a union to receive amenities such as offices, a pension plan and health benefits.
Joining a union has hardly led to the elimination of “the struggle.” Traditional blue-collar industries, such as construction and plumbing, are feeling the
pressure of undocumented workers taking what had been union jobs, Archer said.
“That is an X factor that we have not seen in the past,” Archer said. “It’s more of an issue of competing against employers that use unregulated workers.”
Those employers are seeking cheaper labor, especially when prices for land, and subsequent property taxes, on Long Island are among the highest in the
nation.
The politics of labor has stretched from the Suffolk County Legislature to Albany.
For example, Hauppauge-based Bactolac Pharmaceuticals recently battled the unions and the Legislature over building a new headquarters at the
Hauppauge Industrial Park. The unions and supportive legislators wanted the company to hire contractors who paid a prevailing, or union, wage in exchange
for $6 million in state Empire Zone benefits.
Although the company originally balked, it eventually gave in, holding numerous meetings with union officials and promising to offer each contractor a fair
shake.
Also, the teachers union has played a large role in fighting a plan to create a 4 percent property tax cap, Conoscenti said.
The Commission for Property Tax Relief originally pitched the tax-cap proposal in May. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi headed that group. The
proposal was endorsed by Gov. Paterson, but faced strident opposition from other New York leaders, including Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver of Manhattan.
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PS, and to all the MTs who think we ought to unionize
since all we ever seem to do is attack and fight with each other, how well do you think that will work?
Unionize
It is time for all MT's to Unionize! Why not the nurses did it!
I think our chance to unionize has come and gone,
the current perks big companies get for offshoring American jobs. No, offshoring can't be stopped (unfortunately), but instead of being rewarded, companies should have to PAY for it as a privilege, not a right. That way, companies who truly NEED offshore workers could do so, for a price. But it should be more cost-effective for MTSOs to use American MT labor, even with the pay we deserve, rather than what we're currently getting, than to use foreign labor. Right now, they're having their cake and eating it too, at America's expense.
It is time to unionize before it's too late
After reading a post about how greedy MTs are to expect more than $0.05 per line, to expect a gesture of appreciation at Christmas, I must post this.
====================================
It is JUST THAT TYPE OF ATTITUDE, and total acceptance of VR, EMR, and pitifully low pay that have caused MTs to be kicked into the respectless extinction we now face. It is because of MT's like the GRATEFUL poster with the THANK YOU FOR MY PAYCHECK, KIND SIR sweatshop attitude, that we find ourselves with salaries/hourly/line pay having been cut by 60%, and we are looked upon as mere clerical workers instead of the medical language and computer specialists that we actually are.
Some of us work from home so we can be there for our children or grandchildren, some want to transcribe without having to deal with the politics of an in-house staff, there are others who are physically handicapped and work from home as it is the least painful and most sensible option.
But a small faction of MTs spout ridiculous self-depricating platitudes that we should all be grateful for receiving even a pittance of a paycheck, and a late paycheck, at that, and not expect to be rewarded for dedication and excellence, disregarding the fact that many of us work 10-12 hours per day now to earn what we were able to earn in 4 hours 5 years ago. The MTSO's and hospital HIM administrators never stood up for us; they sold us out to VR and EMR, yet the GRATEFUL faction would have us believe that we do not DESERVE anything more, and that expecting to be recognized for dedication and job excellence is nothing more than shameful greed. THEY COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH, and the members of the GRATEFULS are slowly ruining this profession with our silent blessing, because we are allowing them to. The members of this faction, as well as the MTSO owners and hospital members that did not come to our defense, but instead embraced VR and EMR to make the last of their money as our trade was being made extinct, those are the folks that have contributed to the extinction of our trade. Do any of you know lobbyists who fought to keep medical records in the US? Most likely not, and the members of the GRATEFUL faction may be jaded and void of self-respect, willing to work for 60% less pay and grateful to receive a pittance for their services, but I am not, and neither should you be. We work hard for what little we receive, and we need to gather our forces and strengths and stand together against the extinction of our careers.
Unless extinction of our trade is the goal, Medical Language Specialists and CMT's cannot continue to allow medical facilities and MTSO's to manipulate by fear. MTs must be allowed to speak out without fear of losing jobs. If we do not unionize, or at least organize and agree on boundaries very soon, our industry will never recover. VR/EMR will replace us totally IF WE LET IT. These facilities and MTSO's CANNOT outsource/offshore or jump from full transcription to VR without transition, and THEY CANNOT TRANSITION WITHOUT MTS TO EDIT.
We are the ones who edit the VR reports and I don't know how many of you know this, but in doing so, we are actually TRAINING THE VR SYSTEMS TO RECOGNIZE ALL OF THE WORDS THAT IT DIDN'T CATCH THE FIRST TIME AROUND WHEN NEXT THE DOCTOR MUMBLED THEM INTO THE MICROPHONE, AND THIS ALLOWS THEM TO MOVE FORWARD AT A HEADY PACE TO TOTAL VR WITH NO EDITORS. We laugh about the hilarious mistakes perpetrated by VR, but we are actually help perfect it by editing. Soon there will be no editing to be done.
The GRATEFUL FOR A PITIFUL PAYCHECK faction have made us all look like groveling idiots, willing to silently accept AND BE GRATEFUL FOR, a $0.05 per line pittance to edit VR. We must set boundaries, stand up for ourselves, put guidelines in place and STICK TO THEM, refusing to work for MTSO's or facilities for $0.05 a line for VR editing, without fear as we really have very little to lose at this point, but it is not too late to turn this death of a trade into a rebirth.
We MUST stand up for ourselves, our voices louder than the GRATEFUL FOR ANY KIND OF PAYCHECK faction, as they are actually cutting off their own noses to spite the rest of us, and the days of AAMT are over. ADHI will not help us, as they support not only offshore but VR/EMR, as well. ADHI’s views are counterproductive to US MTs now, as they clearly embrace off-shore, VR, and EMR in totality, and are of absolutely no use or help to Jane Doe, CMT.
In Michigan and Indiana the union is almost in place; final legalities are being settled quietly, and I advise the rest of you, if you want to continue transcribing for a living, to continue to make a decent salary doing what you chose as a career, if you want to be paid what you deserve, if you want to see your daughters take up this trade before it is extinct, you need to unite. Facilities and MTSO's are counting on continuance of MT silence, acceptance and complacency, along with PAYCHECK GRATEFULNESS to keep us in line, at their beck and call, on their terms, cutting our pay and benefits, running remote sweatshops and reaping the benefits as they quickly invest in other businesses because they see the end of the trail for transcription. They count on the fact that we will continue gather in places like this, arguing amongst ourselves, whining about low pay and no benefits, while doing absolutely nothing to reverse our plight.
Unite while we still have the power to command better salary and stop the eradication of our trade, because the scales are slowly tipping against us.
Don't be grateful for the pig swill they're tossing our way. We are intelligent, talented, skilled tradespeople and we deserve much better than what we receive.
There are clerical workers with less skills than MTs, and they’ve unionized and have won mediations and settlements. It is possible. We can save this industry for ourselves.
If you have had enough, if you have even a a modicum of self-respect left, have not been dehumanized to the point of no return, and have a sense of the injustice over what we’ve endured for the past 6 to 8 years, please visit the soon-to-be opened web site of USMLSU (United States Medical Language Specialists Union Initiative). You can email them at contact.us at usmlsu.org for information.
The following states have local chapters: Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. If you are in a state not mentioned here, please choose someone from your state to represent you by emailing the USMLSU.
I hope to start seeing many of you at meetings, and organizing your own. The time is now.
I don't think it'd work just to unionize here. Timing's wrong. SM
Actually, the phrase Pissing into the wind, comes to mind. Once the folks offshore competing for the same work unionize, then maybe. (Did you notice that successful unions are for lines of work that can't be sent offshore? Inability to replace workers is key.) And once EMRs come into widespread use here in the States and a new workforce has transitioned around them, maybe. Being an optimist, I also like to think that countries with new growing middle classes will start producing, not only more demand for middle class wages, but plenty of local work too generated from people who will also get to benefit from this amazing medical revolution we're all part of. In the meantime, identifying and training for a position in the medical information field or another that will/should have decent-paying work in the future would be a good idea for any of us. Anyway, that's what I think.
Not wanting to know...
what anyone's cpl rate is, just would like to know if after working for this company a while, do they give raises at all?
I am not trying to find anything out at all...just curious if you are with them for some time, do they give you raises? That's all I would like to know.
I am currently an IC and wanting to
if I will be able to maintain the amount of money I make now as an IC. I currently type around 190-200 or so reports a day. Is this doable at Keystrokes? TIA
Thanks, wanting to know
The reason I am making changes is because of no work/low work where I am. Maybe this kind of nonsense goes on everywhere these days.
WANTING ISN'T GETTING...SM
As an IC they cannot demand a schedule AND THEY KNOW IT! They are breaking the law if they do, simply stated. You are giving up employee benefits, PTO, insurance, etc. in exchange for that flexibility. But there are always going to be MTs that will give them their cake and let them eat it, too. 
actually, was just wanting to know myself
if anyone works or worked for the Nevada location that can tell us the good, bad and ugly.
I don't believe you, but if true, then MQ is obviously not wanting
There is no way to meet the demands they are setting forth for employee.
Thank you. I am aware of that. I am wanting
Thanks for your input.
I am wanting information on
Good companies, pay on time, etc? Thank you.
Don't blame you for wanting out. All
s
What's the purpose of them wanting
you to log everything? Like country below, I always just jot down as downloading, but it sounds like maybe you are doing something a little more extensive? If they require it to get paid, I guess you don't have much choice...but if you're talking major log keeping, that would take up a lot of time  I've just always done it for my own peace of mind, actually did have incident of DQS some time ago not counting a report I did, had to contact supervisor and got it corrected. Also many years ago with MQ in the old days before DQS, there was some glitch happened, and I was very luck to have the job numbers, as I had to tell the person calling me late at night what jobs I had done...
i'm wanting to get out the MT business myself sm
i love what i do, like you all say, finding work that pays good, the trust issues, and actually, i would like to leave my work at work instead of my computer staring me in the face, and me thinking, gosh, i could be sitting there working right now, or my problem lately is my work is running out. the company i work for hires too many people to work. i've been seriously thinking about going back to school and becoming a radiology technologist. i do miss communicating with people face to face. i want to make a difference in someone's life. i definitely want to stay in the medical field. i couldn't imagine not doing something medical. right now i have two young boys that i really want to stay home until they are little older. they are both in elementary school right now. i even thought about working at the school somehow. i wouldn't make as much money as i do typing, but i can see what goes on at the school. this is a great topic!
sad that you think wanting a baby is
completely unnecessary. I worked for an IVF clinic and I would not call it a crap shoot, either - cold, cold, cold.......
What info are you wanting?..n/m
x
She was wanting to know if the disconnect was
a problem with her cable or with the hospital system. The freezing up is definitely the hospital. All the connection issues is definitely the hospital system and the slowness is the hospital system per their tech.
The C-phone disconnect I believe is a cable issue.
or re Obama wanting to put all our
medical records on line...
They are not alone in wanting numeral sm
instead of spelling said numeral out. Supposedly it is because the SR engine will insert the number 2 or 1 or 6 and they want all work to look consistent.
At least that's the story at my company.
I think Stargazer is right about not wanting us to know (sm)
I've been with the same company for 10 years and still run into the same thing, have never been given an explanation. I think at least sometimes it's overflow from the hospital that they were sitting on, but ???
Etransplus current wanting to know if I am alone
I am a bit frustrated and before I decide to leave them I just want to see if I am alone or not. I have been with them well over a year and stuck it out. Please email me if you work there and are frustrated as well. Thanks
If you are not wanting to read the posts, don't. (SM)
There is no need to harass posters just because you aren't agreeable to what they post.
Goldbird
Wanting to know about their system/program. TIA.
any Van-Belkum employees wanting
if they are happy there and if they are making their lines? ');>
Wanting to leave MQ, would you mind
sharing what company you are with? Like you I do not need benefits...and I want flexibility again..
If you had posted without wanting the referal $$, then it would seem more like sm
you were just trying to help. But you're right, it is just my opinion. More power to you ... hope it works out for you.
Which would you pick. Just wanting advice, and different
points of view:
FutureNet, E-Transplus, or MDI.
Perhaps a combination of 2 of the above? Any advice welcome. Having to decide. Thanks in advance.
I've never seen a job posting wanting an
'acute care MT' who didn't expect the MT to do OPs. Acute care = hospitals = everything including OPs and special procedures. Now of course they will hire people who can't do OPs and let them just do DS, ER, etc., but again, that's being hired to do those specific acute care work types & does not cover the entire area of acute care.
Talk about wanting the best of both worlds!
The job ad for the IC paying 7 cpl, and you MUST work these certain days and hours, NO EXCEPTIONS! Huh? She needs to change her ad to employee status! I don't get it!
You know what? It is not a matter of not wanting to work (sm)
weekends. It is a matter of having a family and after working 6 to 12 hours a day during the week, it would be nice to be able to spend time with them.
I have been doing this for quite a while also, and I feel that I have put in my time for working weekends and really dont want to do it anymore. I would like to spend time with my kids. So if that makes me a prima donna for not wanting to work weekends and have someone else raise my kids, then so be it. I did not have them to pawn them off to someone else.
Attention MDIers wanting to go USA only
I work for them off and on, and to my knowledge there is NO offshoring involved in anything they do. Great group of people, too.
HEADS UP, MDI-ERS --- LAST I HEARD PROSCRIPT WAS HIRING IC'S!!!!!!
I understand not wanting to get yourself in hot water,
but if you are working for a company like this and someone else reports them, there could be consequences for you for knowingly filing taxes as an IC when you should be classified as an employee, especially if you are taking deductions such as a home office. If you don't want trouble, don't work for these types of companies. I agree with you though, I am glad to be getting out of MT too.
Got an email wanting to know why I did not meet my production.....
ATTN: OSi employees wanting to leave
Opti-Script, Keystrokes, WEBMEDX. I went to work for one of these companies, and they are still hiring. Good luck. Much, much better than OSi.
Big discussion a few weeks ago about them wanting a 3 x 5 picture of you sm
and your work space. They are a major outsourcer, as well.
To the MT wanting to know if 2000 lines a day at TT is doable sm
I am beginning to think it is really doable. I have 5000 lines for my week, 3 days in this week and I don't have the latest out of iChart either. Yes, it is doable. I have been there...oh 3 weeks and 3 days and I can do this already.
Yup, it is doable.
Thanks, but I was wanting feedback from current employees/ICs.
//
A bus driver the other day said, "maybe I should do that, I've been wanting some sm
extra money. Sheesh. I have just gotten to the point I do not say anything. Granted, it is not brain surgery, but just being able to type and access the internet does not mean you can sit down and instantly be a transcriptionist, but I do not waste my breath trying to explain anymore. Back LONG before the days of HIPAA and all that, my niece said she thought she would do this (same mind set, it is just typing, etc), so I sent her home with a cassette from one of the doctors at my clinic. She brought it back the next day and told me no thanks, but she did have a new respect for what I do after that.
Now, I'm thinking maybe I should be a bus driver because I need some extra money. Aaah, how life turns ... 
Didn't you hear the latest? They are wanting everyone to submit a name ...sm
change through the local chapters to be able to include everyone.
Who invited the Indians anyway???
I disagree. I don't blame them for wanting to clue some people in. (sm)
Some people obviously have a lot to learn about applying for a job. They covered such things when I went to business college in the 1980s, but I remember when I was a secretary in an office, seeing the IC Transcriptionist come into the office wearing outfits I would never be seen in public in, let alone a professional office I was getting a paycheck from.
Anyone know who TMMG is wanting editor yesterday on job board? TIA. nm
x
I left out wanting to share..(long night)
nm
OP's post shows NO indication of wanting a so-called
x
So, now it's a sin to stop wanting to work 7 days a week
and be with children once in a while. Okay. I will take that under advisement.
Perfect for me. I have a FT job and wanting only a few hours a week extra. nm
,
I fully understand you wanting to see some recorded history but . . .
You should just put a separate posting about who USED to belong to AAMT/AHDI and who doesn't now, and why they didn't renew. Same with you used to be a CMT and let their certification lapse.
I spent a lot of time and money participating in meetings and supporting them. I kept my cert up for 12 years. I received nothing in return. Not one bit of support when the Indian companies were buying up the American ones and putting us out of jobs. The majority of the Presidents and other Board members of AAMT/AHDI in the last 10 years have worked for Indian companies. All you have to do is go to their website and look up past officers. At one time they had a separate CMT exam for the Indian transcriptionists because they couldn't pass the one we had to take over here. When the Indian MTs came to the annual meetings for AAMT they were treated like royalty and introduced as special guests. I was there and I saw it myself.
I know you're a new MT and have a lot of hope and positivity about the future. That's great and I wish you all the luck in the world. Hopefully you'll find the documentation you're looking for and decide not to support this worthless organization.
You're on to me Dr. Phil. Wanting to work in a profession
where my pay is not being cut month to month is so wrong. Please don't take my funnin' the wrong way. I'll try to use my powers better from now on.
It's not like we're a bunch of perverted axe murderers wanting to work with
children or the elderly. It's typing. Whoop DE doo. Any FLYING MONKEY could do it. You don't have to be sane or emotionally stable to type. Besides, discriminating against people for mental illness is grounds for a lawsuit, isn't it?
Mts have "personality disorders" ? Like, wanting to be paid what their worth and not lied to?
How about vacation? Bereavement leave and not losing benefits because your parent is dying and you miss a quota?
Or, how about wanting a 401-K and employer contribution? Or medical and dental benefits? Is wanting those a personality disorder?
Or, wanting to make production, but getting NO WORK day after day, or getting only the worst dictators?
Let me know where you work where it is perfect, because I want to work there, too. But, I also want benefits and vacation and bereavement leave and a 401-K, as a minimum, and I want steady work, like I am a steady worker, and I want to be paid what I deserve, and I want some good work along with all the crap.
Thanks. Let me know. ONLY a profession of predominantly women would call the other women crazy for wanting the basics. Sheesh. Again, email me with that perfect job, because I'd like to have one just like it.
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