Unions/Education/Medical System..
Posted: March 13th, 2011 | Author: Don | Filed under: Misc | Tags: Doctor, dues, education, employee, employer, income, medical, medical insurance, medicine, Obama, patient, patient care, performance, performance based pay, President Obama, symptoms, teacher, union, unions, Work | No Comments »Several years ago when the unions started to form in the US, there was a great need for change and improvements in the work environment. The initial concept that founded the unions forming was correct, but the people and processes that were allowed to make the unions and keep them going were NOT the way to go.
In many cases the unions were ran by crooks, and the majority of the money acquired by taking “dues” from the members went into the crooks pockets and not back to the people the way it should have. Unions have also raised the cost of living for all people in the US and abroad by artificially raising the cost of creating consumables and such through inflated expenses within the company to cover high priced retirement plans (that are left un-funded by the Unions), high priced medical benefits, and many other things the unions push on employers.
One of the biggest things that unions push on employers is the inability to fire an employee based on performance, or advance someone based on performance over seniority, or to hire someone outside of the union. This leads to such issues as we are currently having in education and many other avenues, especially education. And yet, in education, they have done nothing to get the salary to a level that would retain the good, caring educators in schools. (However, the teachers pay a hefty “dues” to their unions for the privilege to work as a teacher for low pay…)
So, what do we do if we get rid of unions? We go back to the process of paying a person based on their skill level and what they do for the company. If a person isn’t able to do the work required, move them into a job they can do, or send them on their way (after giving them the right training needed for the job, and giving them the chance). Pay should be based on the job, ability and performance, not an a union contrived pay scale. Yes, there should be equity, but equity for all parties, not just one side or another. Yes, the employers will need to pay a bit better, and do a bit more for their employees to keep the good ones there. But it should be performance and skill based.
We need to revamp our education so that it is current, provides actual work based and life based training that meets our needs as a Nation and as a Super Nation. This education needs to be based on gaining knowledge about science, math, the spoken word, and real history, not re-written history. Our teachers need to teach, and not just babysit kids. If a kid isn’t learning, start teaching to their level and get them up to speed. Let us stop the drugs, alternative schooling, etc., and actually teach them what they need to know. If the students are causing problems, sit them down and make them learn by keeping them engaged in the learning. Not by yelling at them, having them arrested, or sending them to someone else to teach. I can understand the need today to lock down schools, because of the rapid growth of kids carrying weapons, but let us make them less like prisons, and take the school back to being a school.
Our next step is to take a VERY strong look at our medical insurance system and the associated cost. I work in the medical system, and see first hand the cost we pass on to our patients and how out of whack it is. The cost of medical supplies is way out of whack, deeply due to the unions mentioned above, especially as we as humans should be looking out for each other, not taking them to the cleaners over health issues. I understand that the cost of research for new equipment, drugs and process can be high, but in many cases it is offset by grants from the government, or through donations from many sources. The cost of medical support to humans should not be as high as it is now, taking over 43% of the income for many people. And so high than even more are unable to have medical care. I am not into socialized medicine, but our current process isn’t working either. We need to look at this very closely, and the current process, put into place by Obama, is NOT going to work in lowering cost, but will (and has) raise it significantly.
While we are on medical cost, let us talk about medical care in general. Our doctors need to get back to taking care of patients and not worrying about the money. Actually talk with and LOOK AT the patient! Listen to what they are saying and look into their problems. Don’t just go about it half way. Find their problem and fix it, don’t mask it through drugs and such to ease their pain/issue, but resolve the issue. This will also help in reducing the cost of medical care if we actually take care of the patient and not the symptoms.
