Dear Editor:

In your News Viewpoint of Aug. 3 in which you criticize Canada Post you have used that most visi- ble member of the service, the mail carrier, to take the brunt of your attack and given the impression that the carriers account for most of the $2.21 billion in salaries when this sum must include all employers within the system.

Your statement that the carriers are paid $32,000 a year plus a bonus for flyer delivery (it is not a commission) is inaccurate. The average annual income including the two-cents-per-item bonus is $28,500 gross.

Many carriers would gladly shed the junk mail component.

The letter carriers’ union policy is to strive for improvement in mail delivery and is opposed to reduction of service such as door- to-door delivery.

They have not had a national strike since 1974 not being an ex- tremely militant group. They are separate from the inside postal workers but get the flack from the general public when there is a strike, again because they are the most visible part of the service.

Your comparison of the carriers to other occupations .is a con- temptible and outrageous insult. To a group of people who take as much pride in their occuption as any other group.

Our carrier when transferred to another work area wrote each household a little personal note expressing his appreciation of the past opportunity to serve us.

Your opinion that the carriers get the same wages as the others just to get some exercise and a suntan is ludicrous. We may get balmy weather part of the year, but our mail is also delivered on cold, wet and freezing days.

Two workers to my knowledge are undergoing plastic surgery because of dog bites, and falls on ice-covered sidewalks and steps are not uncommon.

I was employed all my working life in the private sector, but took the trouble to get some factual in- formation avout letter carriers and suggest you should have done the same.

Your editorial was not good journalism; you certainly did not earn your wages on that one. Richard W. Slater North Vancouver

put your waste on a diet

RECYCLE

7 - Sunday, August 24, 1986 - North Shore News

STAFF SHORTAGES PARALYZE

Dear Editor:

The people of British Columbia have now discovered what most health care professionals have known for some time: our pro- vince is failing to educate, attract and retain nurses in sufficient numbers to adequately meet its basic health care needs.

A total of 525 nursing vacancies were reported in British Columbia at the beginning of the summer making it the highest since 198] and more than double that of last year at this time. This is not the normal summier increase. It is a crisis!

Unlike many other types of in- stitutions where work can usually continue when there are staff vacancies, a shortage of even a few nurses can paralyze a specialized facility such as a hospital intensive care unit.

Considerable attention has been given recently to the disparity that exists between the rates of pay for nurses in B.C, and other provinces and this certainly contributes to the current shortage of nurses. But there are other factors that

deserve similar attention.

Two areas, in particular, de- mand action. First, British Col- umbia must begin to educate more nurses and reduce its reiance on other provinces and other coun- tries to meet its needs.

The emphasis in this education should be on preparing nurses for the sophisticated management practices and advanced technologies characteristic of the profession today. Incentives must also te provided to encourage nurses to scek out more education.

Action must also be taken tc significantl) improve the condi- tions under which nurses work, It is totally unreasonable to expect even the most dedicated profes- sionals to continue to meet the heavier demands of inore acutely ill patients with limited manpower and resources resulting from ongo- ing restraint programs.

The heavy pressures brought about by long hours and the strain of continuing to attempt to do more with less —- and getting little professional satisfaction or recog- nition in the bargain — is simply

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