After my Naegeli piece many stenographers reached out to me to let me know that they were also abused or mistreated by the company and/or had heard similar stories. One reporter claimed that Naegeli enticed her to work with them and then would cancel jobs on her to keep her on the treadmill and hungry.
There have been recent reports of jobs repeatedly canceling here in New York. All reporters should be advised that if you are being canceled on constantly by your agency, it may very well be a method of control rather than a genuine cancellation. As we know from current events, control is more important to corporations than workers’ lives.
Given that we are in stenographer shortage times, demand is up. I have a proposed resolution for any reporters this is happening to: For every suspicious cancellation, raise your rates, including your bust fee. Play very hardball. If a company doesn’t pay your bust fee, exercise some control of your own and force them to pay a lawyer to defend against you in small claims. This is also a great way to determine what the market will bear, which is how prices are determined.
The market situation is entirely in your favor to get new clients or move on to other agencies with coverage concerns. There is an incredible demand for stenographic reporters brave enough to work at in-person jobs. This is not a time for us to be shy about announcing our value to the world. The private equity companies have lots of money that belongs to you and they’re happy to keep it if you let them.
I have enlisted the help of a consummate professional to help me launch Stenonymous’s Project Phoenix. If you have not yet answered the pre-launch survey on that page, please do so now. Together, we will all fly into the next golden age of court reporting. Not long ago I told you all that we had to break the silence on the silent problem facing our nation’s courtrooms. It is broken. We have nearly won. Continue recruitment and share this to uplift your fellow reporter. It is my privilege to be the industry’s favored blogger and I will not let you down.
See my post from last week “Are you intentionally being pulled off the playing field.”