Workers across 13 German airports, including major hubs like Frankfurt and Munich, launched a one-day strike on Monday, disrupting air travel across the country. The walkout, which lasted 24 hours, commenced at midnight and involved public-sector employees at airports, as well as ground and security staff.
At Frankfurt Airport, the strike led to the cancelation of 1,054 out of the day’s 1,116 planned takeoffs and landings, according to reports from the facility’s traffic management. Elsewhere, all scheduled flights from Berlin Airport were called off, and Hamburg Airport announced that no departures would take place. Meanwhile, Cologne/Bonn Airport reported the absence of regular passenger services, and Munich Airport cautioned travelers to brace for significantly reduced flight operations.
The strike, organized by the ver.di service workers union, targeted airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart, and Munich. At Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports, security employees were specifically involved in the protest.
While the union had initially announced the strike on the previous Friday, an additional last-minute walkout was staged at Hamburg Airport on Sunday. The union stated that this action was designed to ensure the strike’s effectiveness.
This strike, referred to as a “warning strike,” is a frequent approach in German wage negotiations. It highlights two different labor conflicts: one regarding new pay and conditions for airport security workers, and another concerning a broader pay dispute involving federal and municipal government employees. This latter issue has already prompted walkouts at Cologne/Bonn, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, and Munich airports. Negotiations on this matter are set to continue on Friday, while discussions over airport security workers’ contracts are scheduled to resume on March 26.
