Why I'm FOR unions: They protect the WORKER.
Posted By: The employer sure as h_ll doesn't! on 2008-12-09
In Reply to: Why I am against unions - lk
.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
unions protect unions, not employees...sm
those days are gone. The unions got too big and too greedy. The concern of the union is the union, not the employee.
Protect ears where you can
I recently bought a new blow dryer that is louder than my old one. I have started putting cotton in my ears while blow drying, and it muffles the high, painful whine. I suddenly have more patience with styling my hair, so I guess it may have been bothering me before this, too, and I didn't realize why I could hardly wait to finish.
You have done all you can to protect others, then. It's really horrible. I'm so sorry.
(nm)
password protect it so that they will have to ask
If they question why you have a password, say that you had to for compliance issues, which really is what you should do anyway. I have my computer set up so that after 20 minutes of being idle, I have to reenter my password. They really should ask before using it. I feel that my work computer is for my use only, so I don't feel guilty about not sharing it.
How to protect our jobs . . .
I learned that Focus Infomatics (transcription service) is an alliance of Nuance, the company who owns eScription and Dragon voice recognition programs. Apparently, Focus Infomatics sends a majority of their dictation to India, and the pay to MTs in the U.S. is below minimum wage. I think we should avoid working for Focus Informatics, as well as avoid attending or promoting the Career Step MT program. Career Step promotes and supports Focus Infomatics. This may be a small step in the right direction for MTs who deserve higher wages and to be treated with respect.
Well, I bet it's because CA has laws that protect
workers, so certain skeevy companies at least don't want to hire them because then they would (horrors) have to pay them when there is no work rather than pay them nothing while they sit waiting for work. That's just one of the protections we have here in CA. IMO
Password protect the files in word (sm)
tools>security options or general options>password
That's what I'd suggest.
certainly going back to college doesn't protect from outsourcing..
one of the first things that went to India was accounting...
A little 3in1 oil or WD40 might help, too. But protect the floor/carpet underneath until the oil has
s
maybe it's just a pure and simple invasion of privacy the poster feels they want to protect.
if you do your job, who cares if poster was released from prison. weren't companies hiring prisoners to do MT anyway and weren't they doing credit card customer service?
Wrong. That is why you have virus protectection and anti-spyware. To protect 100% of the time.
:P
Unions
And just WHY do you think they are now outsourcing everything out of the country, manufacturing, etc. Because the unions demanded so much and the companies basically said **** you-- we'll just take it somewhere else. So what did they gain? Now there AREN'T any jobs period unless you want to move to Mexico or India, etc., that it.
Unions
Yes!
Unions
If it would improve anything, I say yes. The status quo has never worked and never will except for the MTSOs.
Unions
 I guess a lot of this all depends on where in the country you live. In my area, most of the grocery stores are union and that is why they make the better wages. I like to support those stores, though, as I said above, but I think that perhaps in some regions of the country, this is not the case, so thanks for opening my eyes!
Unions
Never belonged to one myself but know hospitals don't like them.
To generalize a bit, it seems that everyone in American work force (those of us who still have jobs)feel unappreciated, under paid and with a vulnerability that we could easily be easily replaced no matter how good we are or even how bad we are at what we do or even how well-educated. It's just the nature of the beast these days and the outcome of and competition. It's very corrupt and defies the constitution of the United States. Until we have CHANGE in Washington, we will have more of the same.
against unions
I'm against unions because unions are greedy. Why do you think jobs have gone overseas...it started with manufacturing because unions wanted more and more for their members to the point it has become ridiculous-$72 an hour to put together a car that is mostly done with robotics. Yes, I saw that on a news report on the auto industry and a union member trying to justify making that much money per hour.
Unions
I totally agree with the fact that we should have a union. AAMT or AHDI as it is now called has been lobbying in Washington for us for years.
No to unions.
Why I am against unions
Unions had their time and place in this county, and IMHO, it is long gone. There are many reasons that I am against unions, a big one being that they protect mediocre and inept employees. Unions bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator. Also, it seems a common misconception that unions exist to protect the worker. This is NOT true - they exist to protect themselves and their own fat cat salaries. I recently heard a quote from an official of the teacher's union who said, when asked when they were going to take into consideration the needs of students when it came to terminating incompetent teachers (which they are against, of course), his reply was "When the students start paying union dues." That puts it in a nutshell. I want nothing to do with a union. I don't need anyone to negotiate for me, and I'm not going to spend my time whining about the state of the MT industry. It is what it is, and you either need to adapt with it or move on. By the way, I've done quite well as an MT and have continued to do so by moving and finding a better spot if I don't like the situation where I am. Things are never going to return to the "good old days." Change is here to stay.
Unions
I'm new to this forum, having just graduated from Career Step. However, I worked as management for 8 years at the Port of Los Angeles with one of the most powerful unions in the United States- the ILWU and I would like to submit some of my thoughts.
Firstly, I am a liberal Democrat who believes there is a place for unions. They DO provide protections for workers that MOST companies would never do on their own. They DO insure that their employees make a living wage and can be protected from most company driven forms of exploitation.
As an ex-manager, I can tell you that MOST companies are driven by THEIR bottom lines only, with little regard for the workers.
Secondly, I supervised up to 40 ILWU workers per day and my experience was that about 50% of the union employees were great workers who did not take advantage of their union status. The other 50%, however, worked as little as possible, were rigid and inflexible and made life h*ll for me and my fellow managers. The ILWU OCU (office/clerical unit) base pay was $43.50/hr in 2006- the year I finally quit as I couldn't take the US vs THEM mentality any longer. Those 50% were only out for themselves, without any regard for anyone else- including the company. I have to say that during their last contract negotiation, they attempted to have the company pay for PET INSURANCE.
Yet- the United Autoworkers have taken several wage/benefit cuts over the last decade in order to help their companies survive.
I believe that if a reasonable balance can be achieved between union workers and the companies they work for- then life can be good for all concerned. However, human nature being what it is, both sides need to be aware and on guard against the "SC**W the other side" mentality, because once it takes hold- no one wins and a war zone is not a nice place to work.
I found a website which has instructions on how to start a union. I also have some contacts within the ILWU who would be more than happy to help start an MT union if anyone is interested.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2050880_start-union-work.html
transcription unions
Has anyone ever heard of a medical transcription union and how do you get it started?
Unions are a way of the past
My ex was and is still in a union as a truck driver but they are slowly being phased out and it will be that way everywhere. That industry was hit prior to us with more or less outsourcing when the Fair Trade act or whatever it is called opened up with Mexico and Central America. You do not see many English speaking truckers anymore and their income went from 70 to 75K per year down to $35 to $40 and so we are not the only ones that hit by more or less outsourcing. And now the place where he works, has a union and non union company and at each terminal when the union contract comes up for renewal, the non union side bids lower and it goes that way. He is in the last terminal that is union and I doubt it will be that way when their contract expires in two years. So unions are on way out.
we need legislation, not unions.
IMO we need laws to keep our work from being off-shored, or at least make that option very unattractive (with penalty taxes?). On a parallel track, we need well-trained MTs that will not work for peanuts, who are willing to work some weekends, holidays, night hours, etc.
Yes, and Unions are killing GM and the like.
nm
To the people who are against unions...
My question is why are you against them? My husband is a union member and we have good family benefits plus he gets a very decent wage. Granted, he hasn't been a member very long, about 1 year plus, but so far everything seems good. Yes, unions are political, but so is everything else today. There are lobbyists for everything in Washington and as the saying goes "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours". But at least unions are there to protect their workers, or so it goes in theory. US MTs have no protection whatsoever and our profession as we know it is on its way to becoming obsolete.
On this MT site alone, post after post is negative and it's mostly about MTSO's and the way they treat their workers who make them $ - US. I've been an at-home MT for about 3-1/2 years now and previous to that worked in-house. I work for a well known national and when I first started it was good - I was making really good $, more than I did in-house, had a great supervisor, good accounts, and they always gave us opportunities for bonuses that you could actually make some $ on. My sup even sent me a B-day card and a Xmas card by snail-mail and in her own handwriting no less! The good times lasted for about 1-1/2 years and it has all been downhill ever since. With the combination of ILP and ASR, the transcription industry is going down the tubes and FAST. The big fear in the past was hospitals outsourcing and in-house MTs losing their jobs. That fear became a reality as more and more hospitals realized they could save $ by outsourcing a portion, if not all, their work. Now today the fear is outsource companies outsourcing overseas (kind of funny when you think about it - outsourcing company outsourcing) and machines taking the place of humans, again MTs losing their jobs. When will it end? We can come on here and post our frustration and moan and groan, but what is that really going to accomplish. Some may think (and hope) that MTSOs read this board and our e-mails and suddenly one day the light will come shining down from the heavens and the angels will sing because the MTSOs will finally come to their senses as to how rotten they have been to us, their loyal worker bees, and will shower us with praise and gifts of gold and $. Well, to those MTs who think this way, WAKE UP. MTSOs do not care about us. They may say they do, but they know that right at this moment in time they still need us. ASR and ILP are not as efficient as they need to be to get the job done correctly at dirt cheap rates, but it is only a matter of time before they become dominant and transcription as we know it is in the archive books. MTSOs main objective is to make the most $ and pay out as little as they can get away with. They chip away little by little - sending more accounts overseas, cutting rates, reorganizing to fit their needs but not taking into consideration how it affects the MT. They are business people doing what business people do by trade and they are accomplishing what they are setting out to do - make the most $ and pay out the least. So what are MTs supposed to do to protect our professional trade? Voicing our opinions, whether it be here on this board or by e-mail or phone, isn't going to change a thing. Maybe it's time to get proactive and actually DO something rather than complain or just up and quit and then the MTSOs can say they HAVE to have ILPs and ASR because there aren't enough qualified US MTs. I for one would be interested in seeing a union or other organization be formed to protect the US MT industry from it's downfall, but I wouldn't know where to start. If nothing is done now, I'm afraid that in 10 years or less my job as I know it will be a part of history. If anyone has any other proactive ideas, please post them. I'm sure there are plenty of MTs who would be willing to join a group venture to protect our profession.
YES to unions! And the sooner the better!
practical unions
How exactly does anyone propose that a union come into this business? They would probably only find it worthwhile to unionize the large MTSOs. The little ones have too few employees for a union to look at. My guess is the big companies would then outsource more.
Then the unions would be in bed with AHDI (AAMT) huh!! sm
Don't we already have that going on anyway?
Unions protected workers from exploitation
It seems me that had the unions had a watch dog group, abuse of that system would not have occurred. And there was abuse. A small percentage of people always seem to look for loop holes and then milk something good as long as they can until they ruin it for everybody.
But please, unions are good. If there were unions in Calif for the field workers, conditions would be improved and these unemployed workers across America who have lost their jobs to outsourcing could actually make a decent living at them without work that puts you into a chiropractors' office in ten years.
Of course, the price of food would have to go up or perhaps all of those filthy rich ranch owners would, instead, have to take a cut in income (now there is a possible answer).
Most unions have a training program with apprenticeships
MTSOs who participate would be allowed to have up to a certain percentage of their union workers be apprentices, who would make a percentage of the union scale (generally the percentage goes up annually until the person is considered fully trained and experienced...called a "journeyman" in some trades). This training/apprenticeship program is what makes union participation attractive to employers...they get properly trained workers at pay rates which correspond to the experience level.
worker's comp
Yes you get seen, tell the Doctor/hospital it is a worker's compensation case, they send the bill to the boss, but sometimes the bosses don't like the fact that their premiums may go up because of cases filed against them. This happened to my son, boss made him feel it was his fault for getting hurt on the job, cried about it, then changed his mind and my son told them at the hospital he got hurt on the job but the boss still has not signed the paperwork, so it is now in collection agency and have to straighten out the bill for x-rays and being seen in the ER. My son broke a finger in his left hand, no big deal, but his boss sure made him feel guilty about filing a claim. My son does not work for this company anymore which is a good thing. Of course giving your husband 100.00 is sure way of telling that something is wrong with his boss, maybe too many claims or maybe he is just afraid his premium will go up.
Evil Co-Worker
Anyone else have an evil co-worker or two? I work at home but there's always one that still manages to find me. I would ilke to slap this current one if I could reach her through my computer. She thinks she's my supervisor. I try to be respectful and polite, but that's not working. All my other co-workers are wonderful. I can't find anything in the company handbook about slapping not being appropriate, so that's my next plan of action. I just have to figure out a way to do that through cyberspace.
Evil Co-Worker
I agree! Give her enough rope and evenutally she will hang herself. You are so not alone. I had to deal with one of these types for nearly 2 years. I would be trying to get my work done on my account and her IMs were poping up left and right. I even had my "Busy Working" sign up! She never did her work -- waited until the last minute. Most times I ended up doing her share because of it. Unfortunately, no one in charge seemed to notice or just did not care since I was picking up what she lacked. The money was good because I was getting a ton of extra lines, but it was killing me and destroying my marriage. She would go on and on about her family all the time. Like I cared! Her kids were sick every other day. She always had an excuse why she didn't get her work done. The kicker? Once I had to do her work last minute about an hour or so before it was all due -- I am pounding away on my keyboard she Knows I am doing her work! The IMs pop up telling me how she is helping her sister write a resume! Hello! She should have been doing her own work or at the very least leaving me alone so I could do it for her. I would type my buttock off to have an evening free -- guess what? She would suddenly have some sort of problem as soon as she saw my work was finished and she would then be unable to do her own. Guess what came next? Yep -- I got stuck working while she got away with it. I swear it was like she was stalking me on-line. Don't know how she knew, but seemed like the second I got up to use the bathroom or went to the kitchen for a soda the IMs would bing. Just the memories still drive me crazy. I can relate. It's not a fun club to belong to.
I have never seen a harder worker than
my husband and he can do 2500 tops. He used to QA between 4500 and 5000 daily - so he can really move through reports once he learns the doctor, their style of dictation, etc. I'm on my second VR account and I'm embarrassed to tell you what I can do - I think 600 yesterday? I am dead serious. It is a whole 'nother skill....
A co-worker I once had said that back in the
working at a medical facility, that's how the MTs there normally worked. They sat in the office with the doc and typed the report as he dictated it. Talk about pressure to perform! (But I'll bet when the docs had the MT sitting in their office, their dictation was less sloppy, too!)
worker's comp
Do not quote me on this, but to my understanding if you are an actual employee and they take taxes out, then yes, worker's comp should cover. If you are an independent contractor, then no.
Unions are increasingly a thing of a by-gone era. In this global economy,
x
A co-worker of my niece took in a family
When she went to work, they cleaned her out, including her kitchen utensils!!!
Another happy bedroom worker...
My only complaint is that my carpet is cold when I step from my bed 2 inches to my computer during my morning commute...
Basement worker here and hate the 12
steps for my commute! Have a good one!
A co-worker made this last year sm
for a Halloween office party. So cute to see a plate of mice with licorice tails and almond ears. She actually put these on a huge cookie sheet with a Rat Cake in the middle. (rat cake was covered in chocote icing-- inside was a red cake, actually quite delicious.) LOL Rats and mice. .... not too scary for that age group though.
http://starchefs.com/features/kids_cookbook/html/recipe_03.shtml
Then your problem is with the MTSO, NOT your co-worker. nm
z
worker in S. Florida has a bad 'tude..and...sm
wear these shirts and jackets that say something like "hi, we love to help you" - and they look to run away from all shoppers questions...one has to get a manager for civility at Wal-Marts around S. Florida - this is THE TRUTH (been here 28 years).
ALL I EVER see is disgruntled Wal-Mart workers, never shoppers though. But facts are facts, Wal-Mart has opened up 15 stores in China and China WILL be taking over the world but not in my lifetime.
Best of luck!! 
A fellow co-worker said it was all mucked up
last week. I think she's off today though so haven't heard. Wouldn't doubt it.
not eligible for worker's comp
unless you are an employee. ICs are not eligible for worker's comp or unemployment. ICs are expected to carry their own private disability - like AFLAC, etc. - like we can afford that.
Hate to be a downer, just didn't want you to get your hopes up on that one. Sorry to hear about your wrist. Not a good way to start the year. I would check with local assistance office.
Worker's Comp Reports
Hi everyone...I just started typing worker's compensation reports (initials, fu,supps) as well as EMG/NCV reports and PI. What is the charge in the industry? I am hearing anywhere from $7.00/page to 1.35 per audio minute. Most reports are from 7 minutes to 15 minutes so per the inute does not seem right. Anyone out there type medical/legal reports??
Thanks :)
My DD is a social worker and says that she dictates directly into VR
and the report is on her desk when she gets back to the office. She said everyone in her department loves it!
Portal is correct. Co-worker is wrong. nm
z
In my mind there is a lot more that goes into a good employee/worker (sm)
than production - and you know this as long as you have been in this business!! I would just go on doing what you do best and doing the very best you can and not worry about the figures. Best of luck to you!!
Worker's Comp can be so complicated, and documentation is everything.....
The other complicated issue with this situation is the fact that many physicians are no longer taking on Worker's Comp cases, in new or well established patients, because of the complicated criteria for correct documentation and the long wait on overdue payment from BWC. In my area, several physicians have thrown in the towel with WC cases and no longer handle them. The patients are referred to Occupational Health Services in most cases, or told to go to Fast Track (ER service) for immediate treatment and documentation that is relevant to the injury. It is good if your family physician does accept WC cases. It is also good that he has decided to return the money to his employer and return to the doctor's office and treat the injury as it is, as a work related injury. In a situation like this, Documentation is everything, so the sooner he gets back to the doctor- the Better! Hope all goes well for him.
|
