I'm a freelancer since I retired from a union job. I need freelancing to be doable. I'm 65, and the last thing I want is to have a job I can't afford to lose with a boss and a regular schedule. So although I am fairly liberal on a lot of issues, I do agree that the Republicans are right on this one. But I am also pro-union, and what would be great is for a separate category of union to exist for freelancers. Here is an example as to why:
One of the industries that I freelance in is court reporting. I've done jobs in which I was the only one in a hearing room who didn't know that this afternoon hearing was going to run really late and that I was not going to be able to call my daughter's daycare home to say I'd be late. I've run into judges who seem to to never have to go to the bathroom. While freelancing rules should never include more than basic working conditions, and strikes should be almost impossible, some work rules are crucial.
Meanwhile, anyone who thinks otherwise should realize this: Democrats need to support the anti-freelancing bill to guarantee union support, and Republicans need to support the pro-freelancing bill because they hate the mere existence of unions. It's certainly not because Republicans care about workers.
As a freelancer, you have the power to choose your projects. If a judge’s behavior is problematic, don’t freelance in his courtroom. It’s that simple in every kind of profession.
You're right, Joel. I'm not a court reporter. But that's not what your comment is about.
What you're describing is an issue with employee mindset versus independent-contractor mindset.
As an employee, yes, the boss can be a total jerk to the point that you feel afraid to go to the bathroom or make a phone call about your own kid. The instinct of an employee with that kind of boss is to run to a union rep for help.
By contrast, the instinct of an independent contractor is to dump the jerk as a client and add better clients to our mix. Maybe market your skills and services to a law firm or a corporate boardroom instead of being in courtrooms at all.
That's the beauty of being our own bosses: We have the power to work in whatever way works best for us.
It doesn't occur to you that if you knew some facts about something it might make more sense to you.
I am a freelance court reporter (among other things). I freelance for court reporting firms. One of the firms I freelance for is a company I was employed by when I first became a court reporter.
I get asked to do jobs. In the past, before a 14-year hiatus while I worked at an unrelated job, I traveled a lot. So I could go anywhere, and the chances of working for a particular judge or lawyer more than once was small, unless the jobs were local.
The vast majority of the judges, hearing officers, and lawyers I work with are quite reasonable. The hearing when I was the only one in the room who didn't know that the job would go into the evening was a local hearing. I had worked with that judge many times before and after, and that was my only complaint about him. I was actually an employee of the firm at the time, BTW.
Once when my agreement with the court reporting firm had me on a flat rate and the judge wanted to go after 6:00 PM, I told him I had a long drive afterwards and I wouldn't be paid any more for staying. He adjourned the hearing for the day. He didn't have to do that. I never worked with that judge before or after, and it is common for me to see people once and never again because that's the way it works in my type of court reporting. So mostly, I don't know going in what will happen. And if I started getting picky, I would stop getting work.
Some very basic work rules would make the job much better. No, not union-type work rules, which would destroy freelance court reporting, but some simple, common-sense work rules.
I'm a freelancer since I retired from a union job. I need freelancing to be doable. I'm 65, and the last thing I want is to have a job I can't afford to lose with a boss and a regular schedule. So although I am fairly liberal on a lot of issues, I do agree that the Republicans are right on this one. But I am also pro-union, and what would be great is for a separate category of union to exist for freelancers. Here is an example as to why:
One of the industries that I freelance in is court reporting. I've done jobs in which I was the only one in a hearing room who didn't know that this afternoon hearing was going to run really late and that I was not going to be able to call my daughter's daycare home to say I'd be late. I've run into judges who seem to to never have to go to the bathroom. While freelancing rules should never include more than basic working conditions, and strikes should be almost impossible, some work rules are crucial.
Meanwhile, anyone who thinks otherwise should realize this: Democrats need to support the anti-freelancing bill to guarantee union support, and Republicans need to support the pro-freelancing bill because they hate the mere existence of unions. It's certainly not because Republicans care about workers.
If you are a freelancer, nobody can stop you from making a phone call or taking a bathroom break.
Would you as a court reporter get up in the middle of a hearing? Are you serious?
As a freelancer, you have the power to choose your projects. If a judge’s behavior is problematic, don’t freelance in his courtroom. It’s that simple in every kind of profession.
You have no idea how court reporting works.
You're right, Joel. I'm not a court reporter. But that's not what your comment is about.
What you're describing is an issue with employee mindset versus independent-contractor mindset.
As an employee, yes, the boss can be a total jerk to the point that you feel afraid to go to the bathroom or make a phone call about your own kid. The instinct of an employee with that kind of boss is to run to a union rep for help.
By contrast, the instinct of an independent contractor is to dump the jerk as a client and add better clients to our mix. Maybe market your skills and services to a law firm or a corporate boardroom instead of being in courtrooms at all.
That's the beauty of being our own bosses: We have the power to work in whatever way works best for us.
It doesn't occur to you that if you knew some facts about something it might make more sense to you.
I am a freelance court reporter (among other things). I freelance for court reporting firms. One of the firms I freelance for is a company I was employed by when I first became a court reporter.
I get asked to do jobs. In the past, before a 14-year hiatus while I worked at an unrelated job, I traveled a lot. So I could go anywhere, and the chances of working for a particular judge or lawyer more than once was small, unless the jobs were local.
The vast majority of the judges, hearing officers, and lawyers I work with are quite reasonable. The hearing when I was the only one in the room who didn't know that the job would go into the evening was a local hearing. I had worked with that judge many times before and after, and that was my only complaint about him. I was actually an employee of the firm at the time, BTW.
Once when my agreement with the court reporting firm had me on a flat rate and the judge wanted to go after 6:00 PM, I told him I had a long drive afterwards and I wouldn't be paid any more for staying. He adjourned the hearing for the day. He didn't have to do that. I never worked with that judge before or after, and it is common for me to see people once and never again because that's the way it works in my type of court reporting. So mostly, I don't know going in what will happen. And if I started getting picky, I would stop getting work.
Some very basic work rules would make the job much better. No, not union-type work rules, which would destroy freelance court reporting, but some simple, common-sense work rules.