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Thread: My State Will Be Delicensed, Is Yours Next?

  1. #1
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    My State Will Be Delicensed, Is Yours Next?

    North Carolinians, We are on the list to be immediately Delicensed! NC Gear. I KNOW we are all busy covering our stores, looking to the next day off, and that's all about to change. I bet half of us NCLDOs work for a big box that has contributes to McCorys proposal. What to do, move to SC, GA, FL? .....as soon as we do that, that state will deconstruct because of our lack of a Union.

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    Yes, we need some more unions! Detroit could use some to help them out as well!

    Unions have long-ago outlived their real value, and not what Opticians need. We need a formal structure to make us mean something. Licenses in every state, and a mandatory education to ever be relevant again. I am fairly comfortable we will be able to save the licensing law here in NC for a while, but the truth is Opticians need to do more than measure ODs and Seg Heights if we ever hope to remain independent.

    You are correct, however. Elimination of licensing is coming if we do not improve. It matters not where you work, really. Pharmacists work at WalMart, and they do not call them to the grocery department in slow times. Why? They are viewed as professionals. Us? We are labor. Whose fault is that? Not WalMarts.........it is ours for making the path into the field so easy that it can be done by virtually anyone. We must improve by getting folks who are like minded, with the same education and training and then all of these silly arguments we are always involved in will go away. It will not matter what the "national" practical looks like, and that is but one example.

    One final thing........this was not the Governor's proposal. It came from within the General Assembly, and was based upon a study funded by the Obama administration.

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    OptiWizard
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    Think a step ahead - not behind. If it's happening you had better be ready for the future. Anticipate what will happen instead of bemoaning what is in the past. People in North Carolina will still need glasses - how will you make your practice attractive? It sucks, it's medically diluted, it isn't right - but it is a reality you have to cope with. Look forward, not behind. Such is optical in 2015. There is no crying in optical.

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    Master OptiBoarder ziggy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    Unions have long-ago outlived their real value, and not what Opticians need. We need a formal structure to make us mean something. Licenses in every state, and a mandatory education to ever be relevant again.
    you have been preaching this for years, and your right!
    Paul:cheers:

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    Master OptiBoarder tx11's Avatar
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    Entry level wages will probably drop due to the suddenly vast hiring pool of unlicensed potential optical dispensers. Sales and administrative skillset will probably become the most important to employers (they can train anyone to dispense if they do not have to be tested). Sorry
    Last edited by tx11; 05-18-2015 at 12:36 PM.

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    Master OptiBoarder rbaker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tx11 View Post
    Entry level wages will probably drop due to the suddenly vast hiring pool of unlicensed potential optical dispensers. Sales and administrative skillset will probably become the most important to employers (they can train anyone to dispense if they do not have to be tested). Sorry
    Wages will probably increase with the impending $15.00 an hour minimum wage!

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    Quote Originally Posted by tx11 View Post
    Entry level wages will probably drop due to the suddenly vast hiring pool of unlicensed potential optical dispensers. Sales and administrative skillset will probably become the most important to employers (they can train anyone to dispense if they do not have to be tested). Sorry
    You can drop the "probably".
    Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry

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    Master OptiBoarder ziggy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tx11 View Post
    Sales and administrative skillset will probably become the most important to employers (they can train anyone to dispense if they do not have to be tested). Sorry
    Your right you can train a drunk monkey to sell and dispense, but only an Optician can fix or diagnose a problem when it arises. Only an Optician can understand and explain why the patient sees the way they see out of their glasses. The Optician, regardless of licensure will not disappear, there will just be fewer of us.
    Paul:cheers:

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    Obama is in support of de licensing. He figures walmarts and the like can employ 3 or 4 unskilled, unlicensed kids for what one optician makes.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ziggy View Post
    Your right you can train a drunk monkey to sell and dispense, but only an Optician can fix or diagnose a problem when it arises. Only an Optician can understand and explain why the patient sees the way they see out of their glasses. The Optician, regardless of licensure will not disappear, there will just be fewer of us.
    They do have rights, but having a right to train a monkey? Now I'm confused.

  11. #11
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tx11 View Post
    Entry level wages will probably drop due to the suddenly vast hiring pool of unlicensed potential optical dispensers. Sales and administrative skillset will probably become the most important to employers (they can train anyone to dispense if they do not have to be tested). Sorry
    (emphasis mine)

    Isn't it interesting that the "Advanced" ABO exam focuses on those aspects as much as optics?

    Hmmmm...

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    I partially agree, if the sale and dispense were correct, you wouldn't need me too fix or undo, the simple crap.

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    Master OptiBoarder ziggy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed View Post
    Obama is in support of de licensing.
    This may be true but here in Ohio the attack on Opticians and licensure is happening while the right, Republicans, hold the vast majority of the seats in the house, senate and well as the Governor’s office. The attack is supported by retail merchants they are the ones writing the checks to whomever is in office. I don’t think POTUS have anything to do with it. Who is in control in NC?
    Paul:cheers:

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    Republicans now control NC for the first time in 100 years. But President Obama has pushed the idea of eliminating barriers to employment. The Timmons study was commissioned by the WH. What we all should keep in mind is that we have made ourselves an easy target. No cooperation between states regarding licensing requirements, CL fitting, and this ridiculous ongoing argument about whether or not we need an education, etc., all have finally caught up to us! If what we do is so simple we do not need an education and/or a license in this complex environment, then one must ask.......does the license do any more than elevate salaries? So the enemy is not coming from outside, but within. Those who have argued against education and licensing, and seem to want the market to control the field are getting ready to see it happen, then we will see how they like it.


    Opticianry needs leadership, and not tomorrow.......I mean right now! NC is not the only state facing this issue, and if we fall.......we have one of the strongest licensing laws in America, others will fall as well. I do not want to see that, but again, if all we are going to do is measure PDs and take Seg Heights, why is a license necessary? Who are we protecting? In a CE seminar this past weekend, I asked the audience to answer very simple, basic questions that relate to what we should be able to do. An individual who could not answer them has no chance of being able to analyze an Rx (especially one of any complexity), and most there had no clue. Try them for a week or so, and if it isn't better go back and see the doctor is not troubleshooting, it is ignorance. We can fix that with appropriate education and training. What we can't fix is stupidity.....and it is time we wake up. I have fought this battle now for 30 years, and quite frankly we lasted longer than I thought we would, but unless we act to improve ourselves.......and right now, Opticianry as we know it in those states where it takes more than a pulse to call yourself an Optician, is done. I have been preaching this stuff for 30 years, and it is often a lonely path, but I believe I am right, and my research proves most agree with me. Think folks. Where do you want to see this field in the future? Do we want to cut our own path, or continue to let outside forces drive us? Or is it too late?
    Last edited by wmcdonald; 05-19-2015 at 08:26 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    Or is it too late?
    I am afraid that it is too late...................much too late!

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Give me a motivated person, licensed or not, and I can train them to be great.

    B

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    Master OptiBoarder ziggy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fezz View Post
    I am afraid that it is too late...................much too late!
    I think you are correct.
    Paul:cheers:

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Santini View Post
    Give me a motivated person, licensed or not, and I can train them to be great.

    B
    Apples to apples, Barry. You are describing individual accomplishment, and while that is an admirable thing, this is a more collective issue. NY has a license. Do you want to lose it?

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    Quote Originally Posted by ziggy View Post
    I think you are correct.
    I suspect you are correct, Fezz and Ziggy. But I am still plugging away.

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    Master OptiBoarder ziggy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    Republicans now control NC for the first time in 100 years. But President Obama has pushed the idea of eliminating barriers to employment.
    Then why is it NOW that in NC and OH that Opticians face their greatest challenge? It’s not because not because of some mandate by the democratic president to eliminate barriers to employment. It’s because these Republican legislators have introduced bills that support retailers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big Obama supporter but you can’t lay this assault at his feet. These are Republicans that are doing this not the Democrats. If NAOO and other such organizations can influence a legislator to introduce a bill why has OAA not done so as well? I guess it goes back to the leadership thing that we have talked about for years. I’m really surprised that the national/state optical organizations have not been more active in supporting canidates.
    Paul:cheers:

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmcdonald View Post
    Apples to apples, Barry. You are describing individual accomplishment, and while that is an admirable thing, this is a more collective issue. NY has a license. Do you want to lose it?
    No, I do not. But license or no, skilled people will still shine.

    B

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    Quote Originally Posted by ziggy View Post
    Then why is it NOW that in NC and OH that Opticians face their greatest challenge? It’s not because not because of some mandate by the democratic president to eliminate barriers to employment. It’s because these Republican legislators have introduced bills that support retailers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big Obama supporter but you can’t lay this assault at his feet. These are Republicans that are doing this not the Democrats. If NAOO and other such organizations can influence a legislator to introduce a bill why has OAA not done so as well? I guess it goes back to the leadership thing that we have talked about for years. I’m really surprised that the national/state optical organizations have not been more active in supporting canidates.
    Paul,
    I thought I had addressed that. It is our lack of forward development over the years. I am not a big Obama supporter either, and most of the political BS is coming from the Republican leadership trying to reduce the size of government. We now have a better OAA......and they do have lobby support, but I have heard nothing here.

    Warren

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    Master OptiBoarder rbaker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Santini View Post
    No, I do not. But license or no, skilled people will still shine.B
    Right on. Whether we are referring to "licensing" or just about any other subject we have to learn to STAND ON OUR OWN TWO FEET rather than relying on the Government to protect our individual interests. You, as an individual, are responsible for your own education, your own ethics, and your own well being - not a group of pin heads in your State or Federal Legislatures and State Associations. While I do endorse your futile efforts to make a silk purse out of a sows ear let not these efforts interfere with your carrying out the best business model in the industry, just like the biggies have done and grown enormously successful by ignoring the establishment rules.

    You are responsible for yourself.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Santini View Post
    No, I do not. But license or no, skilled people will still shine.

    B
    As much as I would enjoy a conversation regarding the cloning of little Barry's, wmcdonald's, Robert's, Paul's and the rest. The reality is that there are not enough viable situations for clay to be shaped and molded by the optical artisans and that number is dwindling every year. Keep in mind the time it takes for a young optician to go out their own, about 8 to 10 years.
    I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. Mark Twain

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    Quote Originally Posted by ziggy View Post
    This may be true but here in Ohio the attack on Opticians and licensure is happening while the right, Republicans, hold the vast majority of the seats in the house, senate and well as the Governor’s office. The attack is supported by retail merchants they are the ones writing the checks to whomever is in office. I don’t think POTUS have anything to do with it. Who is in control in NC?
    Without opposition then.
    http://www.realclearpolicy.com/2015/...ing_24168.html

    The Obama administration will take a stab in it’s new budget at important labor market impediment: occupational licensing. Econ blog readers will be familiar with these laws that set frequently overly burdensom rules for who can do certain jobs. They often require far more training than is necessary, expensive classes and tests, and sometimes even degrees before someone can legally do job. While economists have long argued these regulations are a serious problem in need of attention, it’s something that gets way too little attention from politicians.
    http://watchdog.org/201019/occupatio...ure-consumers/

    States’ varied and confusing occupational licensing requirements have come under increased scrutiny lately. Even President Barack Obama tucked $15 million into his budget proposal to study the rationale behind licensure requirements across professions

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