WEEK IN REVIEW
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SERVICE CENTER
TIM NEWCOMB the average wage for RNs working at comparable Level 1 trauma centers associated with academic institutions and with a similar cost of living. This analysis has been released to management in hopes of reaching a fair agreement on compensation. However, the hospital refuses to engage in meaningful discussions on wages, stating, “The hospital is confident that its compensation is competitive.” Unfortunately the hospital refuses to reveal its detailed market analysis displaying such information, leaving us to wonder if such an analysis even exists. It’s time for a change. I urge the community to insist that UVM Medical Center begin investing in its workers and patients, rather than increasing top executive pay by 20 to 30 percent a year.
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Laura Mahoney
WINOOSKI
WDC is the only dive shop on the shores of Lake Champlain and frequently collaborates with the University of Vermont, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, the City of Burlington and many other organizations. Lastly, WDC is committed to the ecology and wellness of Lake Champlain, as well as sharing and access to the lake’s vast underwater history of the Champlain Valley. Robert “Ski” Wilczynski
Wilczynski is co-owner of Burlington’s Waterfront Diving Center.
DIALING IT DOWN
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Chill
Re Jen Sorensen’s strip “The Life Cycle of a Slur” [June 6]: I am such a “fnard,” but 8V-BriansAuto061318.indd don’t you dare ever call me a “blatch!” Peter Snow
SOUTH BURLINGTON
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6/12/18 2:59 PM
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Good article [WTF: “Why Do You Sometimes Have to Dial 802 in Vermont?” June 6], but just a couple of thoughts. It is because area codes no longer need a 0 or 1 in the middle that phone exchanges no longer know your intentions when dialing the first seven digits? For instance when dialing 352, do you mean the area code or Salisbury? Should the computer wait for three more digits or ring a phone here in Vermont? Do you want to wait while the computer guesses? Four seconds? Ten? Regarding the local area, why doesn’t the stupid computer just complete the call if I put a “1” in front? Billing systems can
862-9072
98 NORTH AVE • BURLINGTON
SHOREHAM
Observing recent negotiations between the University of Vermont Medical Center’s nurses’ union and hospital management is yet another depressing example of how corporate America is undermining its workers [Off Message: “Nurses, UVM Medical Center Remain at Odds Over Contract,” June 1]. The problems seem endless. UVM Medical Center is a chronically understaffed facility with poor nursing wages that have seen little to no growth in more than a decade. The real picture of what understaffing looks like in a hospital is grim. Nurses are left working for hours without breaks. In the operating room, scheduled cases have had to be canceled, delaying patient care. UVM Medical Center’s emergency department is currently being staffed by 31 traveling nurses, temporary out-of-state RNs who are paid at higher wages to perform the same functions as staff nurses. Over the course of this past year, the union conducted an extensive market analysis and identified that nurses at UVM Medical Center are paid 25 percent below
“Because we give a sh!t!”
06.13.18-06.20.18
Editor’s note: Molly Walsh’s story was not about what to do on the Burlington waterfront. It highlighted new and proposed buildings and businesses, policy changes, and other news about the lakeside stretch.
Don Arnold
Mahoney is an RN at UVM Medical Center.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
SHELBURNE
drop the long-distance charges, why not? The Department of Public Service decided that customers need a pricing signal — namely, the 1. The whole mess was started by dial-up internet consuming exchange codes willynilly decades ago, and there’s no going back.
6/7/18 4:01 PM