Employees at airports in Germany have staged industrial strike action across Sunday, March 26, and Monday, March 27, 2023, leading to disruption of regular passenger traffic.
The trade union Ver.di called on aviation security staff working in passenger control, personnel and goods control, as well as in service areas, to take part in the strikes. The industrial action is taking place at airports in Munich, Bremen, Dortmund, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle and Stuttgart, among other cities.
According to Munich Airport, around 200,000 passengers are expected to be affected by a two-day strike. A total of 737 take-offs and landings were scheduled for Sunday, and 772 aircraft movements were planned for Monday. Passengers who had booked a flight from Munich on one of the two days were therefore strongly advised to contact their airline and refrain from traveling to the airport.
According to the union, it has been in negotiations with Bundesverband der Luftsicherheitsunternehmen (BDLS), the German the federal association of aviation security companies, for years to increase the time surcharges for night, weekend and public holiday work as well as a better tariff regulation for overtime pay for security and service staff at commercial airports. Despite the strikes, Ver.di has found no breakthrough in talks with the BDLS and has received no written negotiable offer.
Wolfgang Pieper, federal board member at Ver.di, said, “There is a lack of sufficient specialist staff at the airports so there could also be longer waiting times for holiday travelers this summer. The employers have it in their hands with more attractive conditions to keep the employed specialists and to attract new ones. We call on the BDLS to submit a negotiable offer in a timely manner in order to avoid disruptions in Easter travel.”
Read more personnel updates from the passenger terminal industry, here.