After passenger inspectors stopped working at six airports on Monday morning, the Verdi union extended its warning strikes to Munich Airport in the afternoon. The employees of the freight and personnel controls at the second largest German airport were called to go on strike from 2 p.m., as the union announced. The promotion should not end until Tuesday at midnight.
For the time being, however, this had virtually no additional effects on air traffic, since passenger controls were not affected. These are carried out by the security company at Munich Airport (SGM) – a company of the Free State of Bavaria, for whose employees the collective agreement of the public service applies, as reported by airport spokesman Ingo Anspach. Nevertheless, around 40 flights had to be canceled due to the strikes at other airports. All would have made connections within Germany, for example to Cologne-Bonn or Düsseldorf.
According to Verdi, the airports in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden were more affected. The Frankfurt operator Fraport said they had no understanding for such a comprehensive strike that was carried out on the backs of the passengers. 770 flight movements were planned for Tuesday.
The warning strikes are part of the wage conflict between Verdi and the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies. The union is negotiating with the employers’ association about a new collective agreement for around 25,000 security forces nationwide, three rounds of negotiations had so far remained unsuccessful. Both sides want to meet on March 16th and 17th in Berlin for further negotiations.