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Yes, and Unions are killing GM and the like.

Posted By: They had their place... in the past.nm on 2008-12-07
In Reply to: Have you thought about this - lk

nm


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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.
It's just killing him..
to see you so good off and doing wonderful without him. Men cant handle the thought that we don't always need them!

Hope all stays well!
Killing is killing!!! Does not mean they cannot
In the Old Testament the law was an eye for an eye.

The Bible is the ultimate authority and it is ours to obey and take at its Word...not to question or rationalize it to make it fit the circumstance we want out of! Just because others kill or have killed doesn't WE don't have to obey! Bottom line...We have to stand before God for one day, and all of the above men had to also!
killing snakes
If an animal is endangering my life, of course, I will probably have to kill it, snakes included, of which we have many out here.  If I was on an island, just me and a chicken, of course, I would eat it.  My take is that, as long as there is other healthier food, I will continue to eat that, veggies, grains, fruits, and leave the animals to live their lives.
What do you think abortion is, if it is not killing?
does that mean it is okay? Even the law of our land will not allow you to kill a man...but a baby...or fetus as they so lovingly refer to it as...is perfectly acceptable to kill! Hmmmm...something is wrong here!
you can't blame them for killing themselves to get here,
and adding further insult to injury, we put everything in their language. however, thanks to our system of welfare, too many US citizens refuse to work the hard labor jobs, so we "need" the illegals.
killing grass?
Good question, considering I have a new home and just now have grass starting to show through all this dirt around our house. The last thing I want to do is invest $900 in grass seed and fertilizer only to kill it. Please advise.
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
you are killing yourself to support HIS lifestyle? sm


How many jobs does your husband work? You're crazy to keep up the hectic schedule you are on right now.  Is money really worth you working yourself to death? If that's the only reason you are looking for more work, tell your husband to get another job.  Sounds to me like you do more than your share!


My left elbow is killing me! SM

Stretching out my arm and picking up a reference book is agony.  An easy solution is to move all my books to my right side, but is this caused by MTing or sleeping on it (I almost always sleep on my left side with that arm folded under my pillow) or combo of the two?  I've typed about "elbow cradles"...do they help?  Any suggestions?


Thanks!


Chickadee


about the same as killing all birds over the bird flu sometimes...
you have to do what you have to do. If there is mad cow disease, everyone kills cows. If there is bird flu, we kill birds. If there is rabies, we kill dogs. Any epidemic in the making has to be stopped before the epidemic starts. Oh, and the West Nile virus, we kill mosquitos. The only thing with the deer ticks, we aren't forced to kill deer, people do that for sport. lol
it seems like you're killing THIS board.

killing of dogs in China

Please click on the following link to help stop the killing of the dogs in China in such a horrible inhumane way.  Thank you.


http://ga4.org/campaign/china_petition/sbk3x64f53ttjk?


My back is killing me today. What do
you do for back pains?  Any suggestions....
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.
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.
veggie too--can't stand killing of any sort--sm
too much of it is *accepted* these days, and it is just the thing that has put this world into the position it is in today. It just seems that if someone does not like something...kill it. I don't care if it is a third world country or not, they know right from wrong in their hearts, no matter what *religion* or *tradition* they have been taught. Lord, where are you now??? JMO
every living breathing being has a soul and killing --
is wrong no matter if human or animal. by your conception of things, then if you have the flu and are causing an epidemic, we should do away with you too, to protect the rest of us??
TouchScreens? Using this mouse is killing my hand
Does anyone here use a touchscreen monitor?  do those actually exist and work?  I've never seen one.  It takes forever to use the mouse, plus it hurts my hand a bunch
Why I'm FOR unions: They protect the WORKER.
.
Then the unions would be in bed with AHDI (AAMT) huh!! sm
Don't we already have that going on anyway?
My right elbow is killing me. Feels like the muscle has torn.
dd
I knew about the Killing Oprah On Her Couch thingy...
but never saw him get squirted! He simply was not happy with that man, wuz he? Ah, fame and fortune - it must B a drag!
Whine alert! 8 cents/line is killing me! :(

I have 17 years experience.  I'm an IC, was getting paid 10 and 11 cents a line for the last decade or so.  After that work basically dried up, I started looking for more work.  No work to be had at at 10 cents a line anymore, rarely find anything even at 9 cents. 


Decided to take an 8 cents/line job.  Hey, I was gettin' hungry.  I swear....I type, type, type, type, seems like all day and all night and still not making the money I need to pay my bills and eat! 


I know, I know, people justify 8 cents a line by saying hey if you can do 200 lph, that's $16 an hour.  Yeah, that's great for those who aren't used to making up to $30+ an hour for the past 8 to 10 years!  Man, I'm soooooooo tired of typing, so burned out, just very unhappy. 


I can see now how some people are happy with MT and some people aren't, just depends on what you've been used to compared to what you get now.  Sad. 


I really don't have any other skills to do anything else, and I'm dying here as far as finances, killing my hands and other body parts trying to make money at this 8 cents a line...maybe could've done it 15 years ago when I was younger but just not able to type like a demon day and night anymore.


Let it be known that this is the end of my vent. I have no idea what I'm going to do


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.
Unions are increasingly a thing of a by-gone era. In this global economy,
x
Corporate greed is a rampant disease that will end up killing the American middle class....sm
These people never have enough, there are no scruples, In God We Trust is just something printed on currency instead of being a moral principle carried down by our Founders...the French started a revolution over this. I hate all war and violence, but how do we stop global economy as being the tool which the corporate entities use to rape the middle class workers? Sorry for the rant, bad week....year!
Unions may be good for workers short-term, but look what has happened to American car union workers.
They priced themselves out of the market while making an inferior product. Ford and GM are now junk bonds. I'm driving a Toyota. So if that's un-American just like shopping at a non-union store like Walmart, well you can talk to whoever is in charge of wages and taxes who have created this monster where even middle-class has very little extra money to support a union store where the employees are paid well and you pay the price in the product they sell. I can't afford it.