A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

I am not striking May 1, but those who are - see message

Posted: Apr 30, 2012

I am not striking on May 1. I am not in the position to do so for several reasons I will not go into because I am not going to defend myself here.

I am somewhat successful at the moment in MT, but I know the rug can be pulled out from under me at any time without notice. I could lose my income, my benefits, PTO, etc. This has happened to me before. I have been where some of you are.

It is not just the MT industry, but many places, if you can even find a good paying job. I do not know whether striking will do much good. Everyone stops spending one day nationally, and they spend double the next. Seems like a wash to me, but I hope it has some impact.

I also do not believe 1 day in the MT industry is going to make a huge impact. This will have to be an ongoing process. MTs have been dropping from the profession left and right for a couple years now, and will probably continue to do so for the next couple of years. Maybe this will increase the wages and stop the poor treatment of MTs who have actually been cheated by these companies, who can legally get away with their tactics.

Whatever happens, good luck. I am pulling for you.

very nicely said. In total agreement and wish all well with whatever endeavor.. - n/msg

[ In Reply To ..]
nmsg

I Am Not Striking - Will Do No Good. See msg

[ In Reply To ..]
I am not one to cut off my nose to spite my face (am here until I find something out of the MT field), but I am one to just quietly GET UP AND LEAVE. I have some pokers in the fire. Nothing I do or say will change their attitude, so they'll just be "down" an acute care MT who religioudly works her schedule, does all the specialties in all the work types with all the dictators.

I only go for puffing my chest out and saying my piece if it will actually do something.

This board has been around for eons. They KNOW how we feel!

While that may be true, we should wish them well. - And I do, guys, really. SM

[ In Reply To ..]
There may be quite a few jobs that open up later this week. If that is true, I appreciate the efforts by each MT who participated. Obviously, they felt like they did not have much to lose. If I were in their place, I guess I would do the same thing.

It sounds selfish, but as in most professions, jobs, careers, people tend to look out for number 1. That's the way it always has been. I do not work for the greedy companies that I have read about here (2-3 in particular). I hope this sends a clear message to them and it does some good, but they do not seem to mind the turnover they have created if they can find some MT to take the low wages, poor benefits, and think the MTs owe them their PTO when there is no work.

It truly is sad that it has come to this.

Looking out for #1 - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, I look out for myself because I have to, no second income, no significant other or family member to bail me out. Call me selfish, I really don't care. Are you going to pay my bills if I strike and lose my job?

Supply and demand - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Fact of the matter is, with anything in the world, is a supply and demand cost. The less supply there is and the more demand there is, the cost will go up. The more supply and the less demand, the cost will go down. With MT being wanted by many, many moms and dads so they can stay home and work, the supply is HUGE and the demand isn't which in turn drives the cost of the MT way, way down because people are so desperate to work at home that they work for as little as the companies can get away with paying them. The more schools realize that this profession is going out slowly and the more unhappy MTs there are who can't make a living, those who stick it out just may see the cost for our services come back up. It's common sense. No amount of striking is going to do anyone any good because there are probably 100 people willing to take the place of the person who strikes!!

Imagine, then, how desparate we'll all be when we - have to work for only 1.5 cpl.

[ In Reply To ..]
Unless some sort of restrictions are placed on this truly lawless and exploitive field, and others like it, the US will be a third world country before you know it.

Heck, why not for free? - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
Or better yet, we'll pay them to work. Oh wait - we already kinda do that, in some instances....

yes, best witshes with that as well. I'm sure you'll be fine - with that. anonmt

[ In Reply To ..]
NM

it was sarcasm - not to be taken literally (nm)

[ In Reply To ..]
.

There are a lot of ways to work at home these days. - me

[ In Reply To ..]
It's not 1997. There are actually a lot of work-at-home jobs that require less training than MT and pay better. I think MT employers count on a certain amount of inertia amongst the employees to keep wages low. Maybe a general strike would wake them up.

Similar Messages:

May 10, 2012

Let's face it, striking will do no good. Complaining about off-shoring has done no good, unless that will cease at a national level for all industries. Complaining about pay is doing no good, since there is always an MT that will take a job at any rate. What can we do? What if instead of a strike, all MTs did only the minimum line requirement for a week? I think many, many MTs should go the Labor Board and file a complaint: If a company requires you to clock in an ...

May 01, 2012

Since it's official "D-Day," was just wondering if anyone was actually calling off today. If you're off today, hope you're having fun and making the most of it! ...