The union extends its warning strikes – seven airports are affected. Passengers should be prepared for flight delays and cancellations.
The Verdi union is extending the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector in Germany to several airports. On Friday, airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen will be grounded all day, as the union announced on Wednesday night. Passengers should be prepared for flight delays and cancellations.
With warning strikes now continuing, employees want to emphasize their demands in the ongoing pay dispute in the civil service of the German federal government and local authorities. Further warning strikes were announced in Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, among others, ahead of the second round of collective bargaining on 22 and 23 February.
In the ongoing collective bargaining, Verdi and the civil servants association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more revenue, but at least 500 euros more for the roughly 2.5 million public sector employees. The term of the new collective agreement is twelve months. So far, employers have rejected the claims.
Air traffic subject to strikes
In January, Verdi had already reached the airports of Berlin and Düsseldorf in two other collective disputes. In the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was about a new contract with Aviapartner, in Berlin, the operator’s employees, groundhandling services and aviation safety inspectors went on strike. An agreement was reached in Berlin following the strike notice.
Air traffic is extremely strike-prone because of fragmented service providers because many small, security-relevant groups are powerful enough to bring operations to a standstill. Basically, the strike by the airport fire department is enough to bring the entire operation to a halt.
In the past, for example, passenger control forces, pilots, technicians, flight attendants, yard controllers or ground personnel have gone on strike. They are partially represented by divisional unions. Among other things, Verdi has access to the flight infrastructure through the collective public service agreement at issue here, under which many employees of airport companies are paid.
The last major warning with similar consequences occurred several years ago: in April 2018, hundreds of flights across Germany had to be canceled because collective bargaining for municipal and federal employees was not making progress. In eight federal states, tens of thousands of employees walked out of work during a warning strike. In addition to airports, urban transport, kindergartens, clinics, administrations and indoor swimming pools were also affected in several places.
(APA/dpa)