Flight passengers have to prepare for cancellations and delays on Thursday. According to consistent media reports, ver.di is calling for a strike by the aviation security forces. The union is demanding more wages.
If you want to fly on Thursday, you will probably have to be prepared for flight cancellations and delays. The reason is a nationwide warning strike by aviation security forces, which, according to information from HR and the dpa news agency, was called by the ver.di union.
Ver.di itself did not initially confirm the information. According to HR information, the union called on the approximately 25,000 employees in the aviation security industry to stop work from the early morning of February 1st. The strike should then last until midnight.
The employees work at the controls for passengers, baggage and staff. Without them, the security areas at airports cannot be operated. Air traffic is therefore likely to be paralyzed in large parts of Germany.
Union demands more pay
The last time there were warning strikes in aviation security was in March last year. At that time it was about the working conditions of the employees, who had achieved significant wage increases in recent years. Among other things, the union is demanding more salaries for employees.
Ver.di is currently conducting collective bargaining negotiations with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS); there have already been three rounds of talks. When asked by the AFP news agency, a spokeswoman for the association said that the BDLS had not yet received any official strike notice from ver.di.
Matthias von Randow, managing director of the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL), said that paralyzing air traffic in Germany through a warning strike by aviation security forces would be “inappropriate.” Instead, every effort should be made to find a solution at the negotiating table or through mediation, he continued.