Sick-outs indeed!
On the issue of Senator McGauran's libellous statements about "sick-outs", an Airservices manager has advised that controllers are averaging somewhere around 11 days sick per year.
Figures from the ABS show that the average days absent for workers nationwide is 8.5 days per year.
I'd say that the controllers are doing okay considering the stresses of their shiftworking jobs, not to mention the stringent rules on attending for operational duty which are imposed by CASA - for example, duty is strictly forbidden following the consumption of Panadeine and other common medications.
Seems like the journos are getting fed some dodgy figures by an Airservices management team desperate to shift blame!