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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

so when are we going to go on strike?

Posted By: taxydeer on 2007-04-23
In Reply to: The main problem with this field is it is dying - Unhappy Camper

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Let's go on strike.
Bombard the board of directors with our complaints. We need to be heard!
Go on strike???
That will just give them more reasons to ship the work all overseas because those people are so "grateful" to have the jobs. The company won't be hurting, but we will when we don't have any money coming in to pay the bills.
on strike
All I know is about 10 years ago, I made what I considered "good" money working for a small company (for a year).  THEN, the company was bought by a corporation (which shall remain nameless) and our salaries dropped by 1/3 to 1/2 -- and there was just a helpless feeling of not knowing what to do about it.  What do you do when it's a take it or leave it attitude?  I always wondered if it is so cheap to do work overseas, what isn't any of that savings coming back to the American MT.  Give us a raise with all that savings.  I also wonder why they act like they think it is considered a benefit of the job to work at home.  Look at all they must save on having us do that.  None of us have raised a fuss, so they can get away with just about anything.  What does AAMT exist for?
strike
I can't agree more.   It is the large corporations like MQ who have the reputation of hiring MTs at a very low line rate, hire more MTs than they can provide work for and then still have the nerve to overbill the clients.  Go figure.
on strike
You are so right in all that you say.  I've been a rad trans for 30 years and I've watched the pay scales go down instead of up.  I truly wish there were something we as a group could do to fight the corporations.  And to add insult to injury, some companies advertising for rad trans are paying by the report!  Anybody who does transcription and gets paid per report is only encouraging this trend.  Yes, I know, you have to work to live but if everyone stopped working for places like this and held out for a better position, we might all be better off.  Pay per report is a slap in the face.  I work for a teaching hospital on the west coast and often times transcribe 10-12 page neurointerventional reports.  And I'd be farther ahead to get paid $1.50 for the report?  Give me a big fat break.
I'm in for a 1 day strike
I'm not unhappy with my job - but am disgusted with what has happened to transcription. If we can get enough involved - I do believe that it would have an affect or is it effect (LOL). Let those making the money figure that one out for a day.
strike
There's nothing selfish about demanding a living wage, and there's certainly nothing selfish about organizing your fellow employees so that they can all reap the benefits of a living wage as well. If we let the current troubles beat us into submission, and then we let the good times lull us into submission...when exactly *do* we ask for what we need?
20 years as an MT - now I am on strike...sm

After 20+ years as an IC I have seen my salary go down, down, down! Not because my speed has decreased, no, it has in fact increased dramatically due to the availability of shorthand programs. No, my salary has gone since the inception of AAMT and their "standards" and practices. The organization that was going to help MT's become more respected has done the opposite. Yes, there were doctors out there who initially thought of me as a "typist" but I quickly showed them the difference between a typist and a "medical transcriptionist" (medical language specialist). Some of them were unwilling to pay for the difference, but most were pleased to pay a bit more for someone who knew when he was making a mistake and was willing to call and get it right. Today, however, the large MT companies have driven the IC out of business. They offer 4-hour turn around at ridiculously low rates. Many of these companies outsource to India, Pakistan, the Philippines, etc. Some of the outsourced work is done perfectly. Most is not. I am hearing this from office managers who cannot convince the business owners that it is "cheaper" to have the transcription done correctly the first time rather than have more time (money) spent doing QA.


Most of my work has been for large radiology clinics. Conglomerates that own upwards of 100 to 200 radiology clinics across the country own these clinics. The bottom line with management is the "bottom line". Their bonuses and hefty salaries are dependent on keeping costs down...therefore cheap transcription is a "must".


Finally, the reason for the steady decrease in salaries for MT's is the availability of cheap foreign and (yes!) American labor. MT's in this country are becoming more desperate and accepting the lower line rates. Yes, of course you need to in order to pay for food, etc. However, if ever there was a time for us to organize a "strike" this is the time. It will never happen, however, because we are too busy just getting by. And where has the AAMT been during this time (in particular the last ten years when salaries have been eroding the fastest)? They have been telling us the "proper" way to do transcription. In the "good old days" if we did not transcribe correctly we were fired. If we used poor grammar, we were fired. That simple! Meanwhile this group (AAMT) purporting to be working to benefit MT's has instead been working to benefit themselves. They benefit themselves by touting their CE courses and the need for us all to become CMT's, that we can only do through their courses and their tests. None of which are free.


No, I am not an AAMT hater. I hate the hypocrisy of the AAMT. I hate the fact that experience counts for naught in this field. I hate the fact that the moment corporate America realized that medical transcription was an income producing product mostly male executives realized that they could take over with large companies, offer work at a much lower price than an individual could, and force the medical Transcriptionist to work at the prices they foist on us. That is what I have seen over the past twenty years.


Don't bother flaming me for telling you what I have seen. Most of the flamers will be from large corporations or IC's who have accepted their fate. Yes, you are making good money typing thousands of lines a day at a few pennies each line. Yes, you pay your bills doing so. I am not putting you down for doing so. What I am saying is that over the past 20 years the medical transcription field has changed (been hijacked by large corporations) and as such the bottom line is "how cheap can we get the transcription done". Such is corporate America. Get it done cheap or someone else will get the contract.


So, what am I suggesting? I don't know for sure. Perhaps there is no answer for most transcriptionists other than to accept their fate. As for me, I am lucky enough to have an income so that I can go on "strike" until I find a job that pays me what I am worth. Or, until I go back to school to find another career! Which is the most likely course of action a lot of us will be taking no matter how much we love what we were doing.


If you have any useful insights I would love to hear them. Flamers will be ignored.


Let's start with a one-day strike!
That will show them who makes the money. All the degrees in the world won't help if they can't transcribe. They want to cut the throats of the very people who slave to make the money for them. I think if we all agreed on a one-day work stoppage, they might get the message. If not, next time, 2 days. Just a suggestion. I don't know if it would accomplish anything, but we would get out point across!
I thought a strike would be more beneficial
but that has to be done by most everyone in order to work.
Tell you what - you strike and I'll make my
x
Are you ready to strike (with no income)

Is anyone willing to strike when an agreement is not met (higher wages, etc)?  I doubt it.  Most are living paycheck to paycheck as it is.


I hate to be a pessimist, and this will be my last post on this subject, but sad to say most of us can't even get along on this board, do you really think we could come together to form a union? 


There was another post about someone trying and no one showing up.  I guess they had to stay home and type...  Good luck though...  I truly mean that..


ABSOLUTELY I'm ready to strike!
MT's would be hard to unite, but that doesn't make it impossible.
ASR strikes again. When does the linguist strike??

This is what ASR put: AP lateral and oblique x-rays elected vision were obtained.


What doc actually dictated: AP lateral and oblique x-rays of the left 5th digit were obtained.


 


Strike at this time is selfish
I think that during this hard time for the country, anyone who is going to strike, ie. kick and scream till they get what they want, are being selfish. There are SOOOO many unemployed right now and sooo many more running the risk as well. I understand not wanting to take cuts, etc. but face it people, that is what a lot of people in this country are resorting to because they have no other choice. Many, I am sure, would be HAPPY to have a job...and these people want to quit working till they get their way? And these people are the people who preach about patient care? - just my opinion
Have you ever been part of a hospital strike sm

I will tell you that I first-hand saw that out of a varied group of workers, the MTs were the FIRST and ONLY work group to cross the picket line to scab themselves for the money. 


I didn't, but it was me and 2 other people out of 25 who stayed out.  That is the reason unions and strikes do not work for transcriptionists.  We have a majority who will sell everyone else down the river to put more money into their own pockets.


 


I laugh at the comedy board not at a strike.
then get off of the porch.  You call this OP venting?  Cut me a break.  Sounds more like a cry for help.  Why don't you all find a new profession instead of wanting everything handed to you on a silver platter.  I find no humor in compromising patient care because someone wants to have a b***ch fit!!!  
A 2-day strike will not hurt patient care
it will give the physicians something to think about when they have to hand write their STAT H&P for patient's surgery tomorrow.
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Strike in Pakistan slowing down offshored work here. Just another example of offshore
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Lot's of people work for cheatin companies. They bide their time and strike when they can.
As for me, I have joined a class action law suit on behalf of shareholders and MTs.  Double whammy.  Not too dumb.  By the way, don't you have some managing to do or are you on duty all day to try to make MTs think MQ is AOK and everything else going on around them financially is just a figment of their imagination.