Dozens of employees at Emirati ground-handling company Dnata began a strike at Geneva airport on Sunday, causing disruption and delays on a particularly busy day before the holidays.
The strike began at 4 a.m. local time (3 a.m. GMT), the SSP union said on the X network (formerly Twitter), to demand “more dignified working conditions and better wages.”
Around 80 employees of the Emirati company, which handles around 20% of Geneva airport traffic, gathered in front of the airport. They wore yellow fluorescent vests and waved signs with messages like “DNA kills me” and “Humans. Precarious wages mean planes are grounded.”
Three flights, including two long-haul flights, were already delayed this Sunday morning and could be diverted to another airport, reports the ATS-Keystone agency, citing Geneva airport spokesman Ignace Jeannerat.
Dnata employees were scheduled to manage 85 of the 419 flights scheduled in Geneva this Sunday, a particularly busy day with 52,000 passengers expected, airport management said.
“Our contractor’s employees are on strike today, causing disruption,” management added, apologizing to travelers.
Dnata employs around 600 people in Geneva who handle various ground operations – ticketing, baggage handling, etc. – on behalf of several airlines, including British Airways, Air France and KLM.
The union, which has been threatening a strike since the beginning of the week, said the duration of the strike would be assessed “hour by hour,” according to news site 20 Minutes.
The dispute concerns the working and salary conditions of Dnata employees, who are demanding a 5% salary increase, while management is proposing a 3% increase.
Employees are also demanding a hardship allowance for people whose work is particularly difficult and is carried out at night or on Sundays. A demand brushed aside by management, union representative Jamshid Pouranpi told 20minutes.
For its part, Dnata's management has abandoned a controversial project aimed at cutting its employees' pension funds.
Alexandre Koenig, a member of the Emirati company's board, said the company remained “determined to find an agreement” but considered any work stoppage to be “disproportionate” and “illegal.”
The SSP, for its part, condemned the “pressure” applied to the company and confirmed that it had threatened to fire striking employees, 20 Minutes reported.