A strike will hamper traffic on Monday at four international airports in Germany, in Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover.
Due to the all-day warning strike of the largest employee representation of the service sector, the Ver.di trade union, traffic at all four airports was almost completely stopped. Departing flights were canceled almost without exception and most of the arriving flights were as well. At the largest airport, Berlin, for example, 200 departing flights have been canceled and a third of the approximately 200 planned landings will be missed, affecting approximately 27,000 passengers.
The work stoppage is related to negotiations on a collective agreement for roughly 2.3 million workers in the public sector. The groups of workers directly or indirectly affected include, for example, airport firefighters, aviation law enforcement and many other employees of local-provincial-owned airport operating companies.
Ver.di is demanding a wage increase of 10.5 percent and at least 500 euros. He justifies the pressure by the ineffectiveness of the first two rounds of negotiations. The employer side offers a 5 percent wage increase and a one-time payment of 2,500 euros. The third round of negotiations will be held in Potsdam on March 27-29.
MTI
