FFlight passengers have to have strong nerves this Thursday: the Verdi union began its aviation security warning strikes late on Wednesday evening. The employees at the checkpoints at eleven larger airports outside Bavaria are called upon. If they stop working completely, no passengers from outside will come to the aircraft in the security area.
Frankfurt Airport announces that all checkpoints outside the transit area will remain closed this Thursday and departing passengers will therefore not be able to board. You shouldn't even come to the airport, but rather contact your airline. Passengers changing trains in Frankfurt would have to expect disruptions and delays.
The strike began in Cologne/Bonn, where, according to Verdi, the night shift of passenger control did not show up for work. Participation there is one hundred percent, said the responsible union secretary Özay Tarim. “That was a successful start to the strike.”
Around 80 percent of the flight movements that were planned in Cologne/Bonn for Thursday were canceled there, as the airport website showed early on Thursday morning. Verdi man Tarim expected that this share would increase over the course of the day.
No starts in Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart
The consequences are even more serious at Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart airports, where all takeoffs have been canceled. In Düsseldorf, however, it was only a third, two thirds of the flight movements were supposed to be carried out.
According to estimates by the airport association ADV, around 1,100 flights will be canceled or delayed. Around 200,000 passengers are affected. Normal flight operations should not be possible again until Friday. Then the next Verdi warning strike is already planned – nationwide in local public transport.
Consequences of the collective bargaining conflict
Trade unionist Tarim said they wanted to send a clear signal. “We will now use employees to put pressure on employers so that we can finally make progress at the negotiating table.” 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. He sees such a “strikebreaking bonus” as a provocation. The problem should be solved at the negotiating table instead of dragging it out with bonuses, he complained.
Verdi is demanding 2.80 euros more wages per hour, higher functional bonuses and overtime bonuses from the first hour of overtime for the around 25,000 industry employees nationwide. The new collective agreement should have a term of 12 months. According to the employers, these demands would mean additional costs of 250 million euros in the current year alone.
Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue in Berlin on February 6th and 7th.
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