STORY: A warning strike largely paralyzed air traffic at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport on Monday morning. According to the airport operator BER, all commercial departures have been canceled and arrivals could also be affected, according to the airport’s website. The Verdi services union had also called on employees at Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen airports to stop working all day. At BER, some travelers reacted unnerved to the labor dispute. “We’re the ones who suffer. We can’t help it. And that’s why, if we didn’t fly, then they would too… then they wouldn’t have jobs either. That’s why, I just don’t understand it.” “Well, I fly a lot and I’m getting annoyed by it, I have to admit. Well, I always have the feeling that it’s the wrong people who have to suffer from it. Well, I’ve already missed a flight at Christmas because it just didn’t work with the ground staff. And if the same professional group is now making such demands, then my understanding is limited. To be honest, yes.” According to Verdi, the background to the warning strikes is collective bargaining for public sector employees, local negotiations for ground handling employees and negotiations for aviation security employees, including about surcharges for night and holiday work. Union secretary Enrico Rümker can understand the frustration of travelers. “That’s understandable. But if you look back, it shows that we had three collective bargaining disputes in January. Two have been resolved, one has not been resolved. We were able to reach an agreement with various employers. These problems only exist with aviation security. And The employer is essentially responsible for this because he has still not submitted an offer in order to ultimately be able to achieve a tariff result so that we no longer have to bother the passengers with such actions.” The Working Group of German Airports (ADV) had criticized at the weekend that Verdi was abusing the airports as a public stage. The airports do not conduct their own collective bargaining, but are part of the Association of Municipal Employers.