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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

If IC's can't join EXISTING unions, then maybe

Posted By: LowlyMT on 2008-06-04
In Reply to: Unionizing - JustMe

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.


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Unions exist to make money for unions.
That's the truth. They don't care if companies close because they can't afford to pay union wages, and then the workers have nothing.
you can join, no problem. If you write, you can join. nm
.
Unions are on the side of the Unions!
You have a very glorified view of unions. For many years, unions have been associated with graft, corruption, and greed, and for good reason. The unions are in business for the unions, period. Unions will twist the truth to whatever extent necessary to pit workers against management. That is how they stay in business. Have you ever seen info about the salaries that union bosses make? They are atrocious. Unions are a BUSINESS. They are in business for themselves. They are NOT charitable organizations out to help workers, although that is what they say. They will only help the worker to the extent that it lines their pockets.
I believe with pre-existing conditions sm
and signing on as a new employee you are automatically covered under the open enrollment rule. At least that was what I was told when I changed jobs. I had my certificate of credible coverage but the transcription company and the insurance company didn't need it.
I don't know about pre-existing conditions as there
isn't anything I've had to deal with, but I was impressed with how good the insurance was and how inexpensive it was, especially compared to most plans.  The company also provides some benefits free, such as vision, and long/short-term disability.
If at all possible, hold on to your existing job and try out the other job. BTDT. nm
/
Pregnancy is excluded from pre-existing conditions. nm
x
I have a question regarding pre-existing and insurance policies if anyone can help me. sm
I haven't had insurance in a long time but my DH is coming up to qualify for insurance in July. It is BC/BS and is $305/mo for he and I with $2000 deductible. I have been having a lot of medical issues lately. I see on the paperwork it asks for proof of insurance for the last 18 months. I don't have any. Anybody know what they will do about pre-existing? I could go to a doc where nothing is documented but at this point I am not sure if it is better for me to search my own policy or get on his given my medical situations. I don't know how the pre-existing things work.
I make subs sign only for my existing client base
nm
Any of you TransTech MT's have pre-existing condition, and what are requirements by Aetna/Coventr

If an employee has a preexisting condition from several years back, but has not had treatment of any kind for that same condition for the past years, is that still considered a preexisting condition? The new insurance will not pay for ANY preexisting conditions. Am I right about that?


If anyone has hands-on experience with this, please respond. TIA


 


Unions
Yeah. Unions have worked really well for the auto workers.
I don't see where unions have done anything for anybody.
My brother was in the aircraft mechanics union. He paid BIG dues. He worked 3 years without a contract with a major airline. When they were negotiating, the airline told them that they would give them their raises on paper but that they were going belly up and would use the mechanics as their scapegoat because they demanded more money. That is exactly what happened. The airline went belly up and the mechanics were the scapegoats. They never saw one penny of any raise.

Unions are just another big business. They take the workers' money, and the workers are just puppets doing what they're told, striking when they're told, unable to feed their family because of unions.
Unions
WE CAN'T WIN!!  So I guess I'm just going to shut up and type some more!
Unions not the answer
I strongly disagree that unions will solve the problems afflicting the MT field. As long as there is outsourcing and other alternatives to traditional transcription, such as voice recognition, there will continue to be downward pressure on MT wages. Years ago when I worked in Human Resources for health care facilities, I sat on the other side of the negotiating table negotiating union contracts (our nurses were unionized), and I am appalled to this day at the underhanded tactics used by the unions. And talk about overinflated salaries - it is truly shocking what union officials make, and it all comes out of the pockets of union members who get a rather dubious return on their union dues. I just don't believe unionization will solve our problems. I think the only thing that will stop the downward pressure on MT pay is if an end is put to outsourcing (and I don't think its unrealistic to think that could happen at some point).
I've been in unions and know what
they can do for you. Without unions there would be no vacation pay, sick days, 40 hour week (for some).

I would very definitely love to be part of a union and also would be willing to strike if necessasry to make this happen.

Like all unions, strength is in the numbers so let's hope people support the idea.
Unions would help us get some recognition
Currently it's lacking 100%. Look at AAMT/AHDI -- they don't represent us, they're killing us. They need to be investigated and put on a short leash ASAP.
obama and unions
link The big money companies would not allow and would fight it big time. I know one southern California hospital sure did fight unionization
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/politics/09labor.html
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
It is too late for unions. It never would have worked.
bebe
Completely agree. Before unions,
people were forced to work 7 days a week, 12 hour days, no benefits, no overtime, no minimum wage, no safety standards, etc etc etc.... THANK YOU UNIONS.
You know, there are unions in place already. Here is their payscales....
Full-time and part-time employee hospital positions payscales are as follows:

MT Level 1 to Level 3=
$23.68 to $28.70 per hour plus benefits which include 401b, health insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, Wellness Programs, 24 PTO days, plus paid holidays and a few other perks.

Did you not do your homework?

The payscales you have in this post are way too low.
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
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.
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!
Unions haven't helped much in years
Sadly, they've become more of a corporation themselves. You pay dues and if a conpany wants to bail or relocate or outsource, they still can and do.
Truth about unions - good for employees
My huband is a union member. Union membership is voluntary, with it you pay dues, in exchange your union officials bargain with the company for fair wages, benefits, and pensions. A union signs a contract and during that time, the employees have job security. If there is low work because the offshore companies messed up or shipments didn't come in, it is their union that pays them subpay to compensate the difference between average earnings and unemployment if he has a week off. Also, we pay nada for health insurance premiums, only $10 for office visit, and $5/$15 for Rx, 0 for dental 50% for orthodontics, and $20 for glasses. Without the union supporting these workers they would have no ground to stand on with regard to pay and benefits and working conditions. Thanks to the union, if my husband works Saturdays its time and a half, Sunday are double-time and heaven forbid a holiday he gets paid triple time. When he retires, we keep the benefits and a nice pension. Unions are not all about the mob - I have family in chicago and it is not as you describe it. Chicago is a high crime area and it's not the unions that are causing the problem, it is the quality of people who work in SOME of the factories which are lower paying and the socioeconomic drive that results in shady business and your so called mobter and gangster life.
Well, MY experience with unions is the exact opposite...
My dad was in a textile worker's union for 35 years. He had to go through a strike when he had 3 small kids. For six weeks, he received $20 a week and only two bags of groceries for the whole duration. He lost his job at 35 years from the plant closing. That is not to mention that his union wages had us always barely making it, and the union never once did a thing about the conditions they had to work in. He has struggled with a form of bladder cancer for 19 years from working in those conditions and the chemicals used there.

Ask the auto manufacturers what the union has done for them. Yes, the workers are making it fine laid off, but the companies are near death. Those companies feed our nation. We're 1000 miles from Detroit and our livelihood depends on those car companies staying up and running. My husband's company does not make a thing related to cars, but the company that OWNS his company does.

Bottom line is that if this industry has come to the point that we are discussing needing a union, then maybe we need to either get government intervention to standardize the industry, set regulations about ONLY US work for US medical records, and use only certified workers, OR we need to go back to college for our next career choice.
Posts about unions - For All Posters and Readers

Posters placing threads and replies about unions are expected to follow the same guidelines and policies that all other posters follow.  Making derrogatory statements about MTStars while utilizing its resources is not going to be tolerated.  Encouraging posters in practices that are not advisable for MTStars posters is not going to be tolerated, either. 


MTStars allows you to discuss your topics on the Company and Main boards but each poster must still be appropriate.  Posts with inappropriate information will be removed; posters who engage inappropriately may be banned.  There are no special circumstances either way for those discussing the union topics than any other topic on MTStars' boards. 


MTStars Team


 


Unions in Canada, MTs make $23 hour plus Yep
I communicate with an MT in Canada and that is what she relayed.
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
Link for who can and cannot join a union

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.


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
Since it's a private group on Facebook, you have to click on "request to join group" sm
It takes about a day to be added after the request is put in.
I though unions not legal in some states (right-to-work states) nm
nm