Eight German airports, including busy hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, were paralyzed on Friday due to a staff strike amid strained collective bargaining.
At Frankfurt Airport, the country’s largest, “the situation is very calm, there are hardly any travelers in the halls”, while a dozen flight movements are planned for this Friday, compared to a thousand in normal times, said AFP spokesman Dieter Hulick for the Operator Fraport.
Also at Munich Airport, which affects more than 700 take-offs and landings, there were no flights until 1 a.m. on Saturday, said Corinna Born, spokeswoman for the airport operator.
Medical, technical and other emergency flights for the Munich Security Conference, which begins on Friday, are not affected.
The strike was organized to “cause strong repercussions, mainly on domestic flights, ranging from delays to cancellations and even a partial halt to service,” according to a press release from Germany’s services union Verdi on Wednesday, which traces the origins of the movement. .
“The employees are jointly putting pressure on their employers because the negotiations have not led to any result so far,” said Verdi Vice President Christine Behle in a statement.
The Verdi union is currently leading industry negotiations for public sector workers, airport ground staff and aviation security staff to demand better wages to offset the loss of purchasing power caused by high inflation.
The one-day work stoppage affects the airports in the cities of Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart and Leipzig.
“Inflation, high energy and food prices are driving many workers into a precarious situation,” says Behle.
The union staged a similar strike at Berlin airport last month, resulting in the cancellation or rebooking of around 300 flights.
Record inflation in Germany in recent months, peaking at 10.4% in October, has weighed on annual wage negotiations in the country’s various sectors, sometimes accompanied by work stoppages.
Since the beginning of the year, the employees of the post office have observed several strike days at the call of the Verdi union, which is demanding a 15% wage increase in particular.