Conflict of tariffs: Warning strikes at 13 German airports have started

The Verdi union has started its warning strikes at 13 German airports. Since midnight, employees from the public service of the airport operators, soil traffic services and air security areas have been on the ground in various tariff conflicts, as a spokesman for the union confirmed. The warning strike should take 24 hours.

The warning strikes in other federal facilities and municipalities are also to continue this week. The next round of negotiations for the public service is planned for this Friday (March 14) in Potsdam.

The warning strikes in the public service, which had been planned since Friday, are also said to join employees in the air security areas, as Verdi announced on Saturday. These work in passenger control, personnel, goods and freight control as well as in service areas. For them, a new collective agreement is currently being negotiated with the employers in the Federal Association of Air Safety Companies (BDLS). The next round of negotiations is scheduled for March 26 and 27.

The following airports are affected by the warning strikes in both tariff conflicts: Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich. At the airports Weeze near Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, only employees in the air security area are called up for the strand.

Air traffic will come to a standstill in large parts of Germany: According to an initial estimate by the ADV airport association, only more than 3,400 flights are expected because of the outstanding in the public service and in the ground traffic services, and around 510,000 passengers cannot compete as planned. According to German air traffic control, there are currently around 6,000 flight movements at German airports on an average day. In addition, there are around 3,000 floats in German airspace.

There are no passengers at the Tibling Frankfurt, and the transit traffic will certainly be affected by the effects, the operator Fraport warned. 1,170 starts and landings were planned for the Monday with around 150,000 passengers. The tasks for a fully extensive flight operations would be exposed, only an emergency service would be maintained. The airport operator calls on the passengers not to get to the terminals. According to a speaker, Lufthansa is working on a replacement flight schedule.

The union calls for eight percent more wages in the collective bargaining from the federal government and the municipalities, but at least 350 euros more, as well as three additional free days. So far, employers have not submitted a specific offer.

In air safety, Verdi calls for the improvement of occupational health and health protection, 30 days of vacation and additional vacation for shift work as well as the free choice of doctor in the regular mandatory medical examinations of the employees. The employers organized in the BDLS criticized the warning strikes: “The strike measures now set at 13 airports are not expedient and only underline the excesses on the part of the unions, with which we are once again confronted with this negotiating round,” said BDLS negotiation leader Christian Huber.

At individual airports, the actions only start in the early morning at the start of operation. The strikers in Frankfurt should meet for a rally in the morning.

In the current collective bargaining round of the public service, the airports in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich have already been strike, where there were numerous flight cancellations. According to ADV, 800,000 passengers were already affected.

The strikes are not proportionate, said Joachim Lang, the managing director of the Air Transport Association BDL. “Here a complete transport branch is closed across the board and this, although airports and airlines, but also gastronomy, retail and hotels are not tariff partners. The collective bargaining conflict is thus carried out solely on the back of the passengers before the next round of negotiation is due. ” Lang demands new strikes in the field of critical infrastructure.