WE CAN'T let Allan Charles-worth's letter (January 23) go unchallenged - even if it does feel like rehearsing an old argument.

For the record, the average sickness absence among council staff is 12.9 days per full-time employee, not four weeks.

Even that average is dragged up by a small number of staff with long-term conditions or injuries, in some cases work-related, in other cases serious illness or disability.

Most staff have nothing near.

Having said that, we have also argued for management to recognise that years of understaffing in some areas, especially social care services, have resulted in gross overwork and consequently relatively high levels of stress, illness and injury in those areas.

Part of their new strategy is supposed to be about recognising this and tackling the real causes of sickness.

Of course we can't see how they can possibly hope to square that with the latest round of yet more proposed job cuts in home care and social work.

Time for some joined-up thinking: stop these crazy cuts, get round the table with unions and let's get agreement for a well-staffed, fairly-paid, well-motivated workforce.

Ben Drake, Branch secretary, York City Unison, Swinegate Court East, York.