Funk, reference the "greater than 10 days sick leave" the cynic inside me thinks it also includes maternity leave - (else why is it not listed separately?)
Funk:These figures are alarming and in the long run are unsustainable for any industry. I cannot imagine any business being able to stay afloat if you had to cover so much unplanned absenteeism.
It takes up to 2 years to recruit and train a new person (and up to another 3 to make a Full Performance Controller) so it makes no sense to tell an existing controller to "show cause" if they need a couple of weeks sick leave for illness/injury etc.
And as I said, these examples are looked at VERY CLOSELY by managers/supervisors and DAME's - it is not a blank cheque.
Funk:1.you will be fired if you take too many sick single days.
as mentioned in my post - single sick days actually decreased by more than 800 instances in the past year.
Funk:3.we are on a liveable work rotation with no short turn-arounds.
umm...
hmmm....
you be the judge:
8 hrs on
12.5 off
8 on
10.5 off
7 on
10 off
7 on
called for overtime
called for overtime
.... repeat ad nauseum.
So, my point is: AsA has been keeping tabs on the sick leave since forever. It really makes you wonder why they "promoted" 97 controllers to ALM positions, the majority of whom no longer hold ratings for separating aircraft, when it seems obvious to me that we need every possible controller we can get our hands on.
Funnily enough,
the airlines (i.e. our customers) actually have a policy of overstaffing to cover seasonal illness/unforeseen events so that the planes keep flying.