BERLIN — Workers at 13 major airports across Germany, including key hubs like Frankfurt and Munich, orchestrated a one-day strike on Monday that led to the cancellation of the majority of flights.
The strike, which started at midnight and lasted for 24 hours, involved employees from the public sector at the airports, including ground and security personnel.
According to reports from the German news agency dpa, at Frankfurt Airport, 1,054 out of the 1,116 planned takeoffs and landings for the day were scrapped.
Meanwhile, Berlin Airport experienced a total cancellation of its regular arrivals and departures.
Hamburg Airport announced that no departures were feasible, Cologne/Bonn Airport mentioned that regular passenger services were halted, and Munich Airport warned travelers of a significantly reduced flight schedule.
The ver.di service workers’ union also extended its strike to encompass airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart, and Munich.
Smaller airports, such as Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, were affected as only security workers participated in the strike.
The union made the announcement about the strike on Friday, but at Hamburg Airport, they decided to institute a short-notice walkout on Sunday in addition to Monday’s strike to ensure its effectiveness.
These “warning strikes” are a familiar method used in resolving wage negotiations in Germany.
This particular action is linked to negotiations concerning two separate pay issues: one about a new pay and conditions contract for airport security workers, and the other about a broader dispute over the pay for federal and municipal government employees.
Previously, this broader pay dispute has triggered strikes at Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Munich airports.
The discussions for this issue are expected to continue on Friday, while further negotiations on the airport security workers’ contract are scheduled to begin on March 26.
