Travelers have to expect massive restrictions at eight German airports on Tuesday. The reason for this is a full-day warning strike by security personnel called by the Ver.di union. The following airports are affected: Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig / Halle, Dresden, Erfurt, Hannover-Langenhagen, Bremen, Hamburg and Munich.
- The security people in Frankfurt are supposed to resign from 2 to 8 pm , the union announced in Berlin.
- At Leipzig / Halle Airport, the strike will probably affect the time between 4 and 6 pm .
- Dresden : Here is the staff strike from 3 to 21 clock and
- in Erfurt from 6 to 22 o'clock .
- At Hanover-Langenhagen airport and in Bremen , Ver.di called on around 700 employees of the security staff to make a 24-hour warning strike , scheduled to start on Tuesday at 0 o'clock .
- A full-time standout in Hamburg should start at midnight from Monday to Tuesday during the night.
- In Munich , 350 employees are called from 3:30 in the morning to 20 o'clock in the evening for work stoppages
According to the ADV Airport Association, the warning strike will hit at least 220,000 travelers. The reason for this is the ongoing collective bargaining conflict, in which the unions demand a uniform payment for the 23,000 employees at the airports in the area of passenger, freight, personnel and goods control.
The unions Ver.di and DBB had called for a strike on Friday at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt.
What the tariff dispute is about
Ver.di calls for a uniform payment of 20 euros per hour for the inspectors and the airport employees. That would be a plus in the sometimes high double-digit percentage range - currently the payment varies depending on region and activity.
The employers consider this unrealistic, they offer according to own representation a plus of up to 6.4 percent. For Ver.di this is not enough - according to the union, this would only be a plus of two percent for the majority of the employees.
Four previous collective bargaining rounds had been fruitless. Both sides want to continue negotiations on 23 January.
Only on Thursday had been deleted because of the warning strike of the security personnel at the three airports Cologne-Bonn, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart more than 600 flights. Tens of thousands of passengers were affected. On Monday, the security staff at the two Berlin Airports had laid off the work.
What are the reactions to the strike announcements?
The renewed strike call was necessary because the Federal Association of aviation security companies (BDLS) has not responded to the previous warning strikes "with a negotiable offer," said Ver.di negotiator Benjamin Roscher. DBB negotiator Volker Geyer commented: "The employers unfortunately leave us with their blockade attitude no other choice."
"The union continues to demand a stubborn 20 euros per hour for all employees and harms passengers, airports and airlines with the completely excessive strike action," countered BDLS negotiator Rainer Friebertshäuser. "The union spans the curve with these measures increasingly."
Ralf Beisel, chief executive officer of the ADV airport association, sharply criticized Verdi: "It is irresponsible of Verdi to extend the strikes to excess." The Federal Association of the German aviation industry (BDL) commented similarly: "This is no longer a warning strike, which is completely disproportionate," said General Manager Matthias von Randow. According to the association, the passengers, but also the airports and airlines, are the victims of this action.
Ver.di played the ball on Sunday at the request of the German Press Agency back to the employers: One is aware of the hardships for the passengers, said a spokeswoman. At the same time, she pointed out that the union had always announced the work stoppages at an early stage and also excluded the holidays.
Where is information for affected passengers?
The first contact person for air travelers is always the airline, for package holidays it is the tour operator. The airports offer detailed information about the current departure and arrival times on their websites.