Warning strikes by security personnel are causing problems in air traffic in large parts of Germany this Thursday. According to the Verdi union, the security staff at Cologne-Bonn Airport were the first to go on strike on Wednesday evening, followed by Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. There are also strikes at the airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Leipzig, Hanover, Stuttgart, Erfurt and Dresden. Munich and Nuremberg airports are not affected. The strikes are expected to last until Thursday evening (midnight).
When flights take place, travelers must be prepared for long waiting times at security checks. In order to speed up the checks, you are asked to keep hand luggage to a minimum.
“Almost all flights” are canceled at Cologne/Bonn Airport, a spokeswoman said this morning. This means that the picture has become even worse compared to the start of the strike that night. According to the announcement, around a third of take-offs and landings at Düsseldorf airport should be canceled. Some planes were diverted to Münster/Osnabrück. According to the airport, the waiting times for the clearance of flights remained within limits.
At Germany’s largest airport, Frankfurt, around 310 of the 1,120 planned flight movements have so far been canceled, as a spokesman for the operator Fraport announced. The main customer Lufthansa had announced that it would maintain the majority of its program in Frankfurt, including long-distance flights, especially for those connecting.
According to estimates by the airport association ADV, a total of around 1,100 flights nationwide are canceled or can only take off late. Around 200,000 passengers are affected. Verdi union secretary Tarim told the German Press Agency that they wanted to send a clear signal. The employers have so far behaved “unacceptably” in the negotiations. “We will now use employees to put pressure on employers so that we can finally make progress at the negotiating table.”
“Employees want real wage increases and not one-off payments”
The employee representative criticized the fact that a security company at Düsseldorf Airport had offered an extra payment of 200 euros gross so that employees could come to work despite the warning strike. Tarim said he saw the “strikebreaking bonus” as a provocation. “Employees want real wage increases and not one-off payments, which they don’t have much of in times of inflation.” You should solve the problem at the negotiating table instead of dragging it out with bonuses.
In the collective bargaining dispute, Verdi is demanding 2.80 euros more wages per hour, higher functional bonuses and overtime bonuses from the first hour of overtime. The new collective agreement should run for twelve months. The demands go too far for employers. Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue in Berlin on February 6th and 7th.