Already on Monday, the failures at German airports had led to significant problems in flight operations.
Frankfurt The long-standing dispute between Verdi and the security services at airports in Germany about appropriate payment for inspectors has escalated. On Tuesday, the union largely paralyzed flight operations at the largest airport in Frankfurt.
Because of the all-day call for a strike at the passenger controls, operator Fraport was forced on Monday to recommend passengers not to arrive at all. According to a statement, there will be no way of catching the planned flight for the entire duration of the strike. Delays are expected in the transit processes with changing passengers.
Verdi had already called for work stoppages at six German airports on Monday. This led to considerable problems in flight operations in Düsseldorf, for example. The airlines canceled around 160 flights as a precaution, more than half of the take-offs and landings scheduled for the day. At Cologne-Bonn Airport, ten of 69 planned take-offs were canceled. In addition to Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden are also to be struck on Tuesday.
Verdi is demanding a collective agreement for twelve months and an hourly wage increased by at least one euro. The salaries of baggage and staff inspectors should reach the level of employees in passenger control. In addition, employees in aircraft security and boarding pass control are to be paid uniformly nationwide.
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In the background, however, there has been a dispute with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) about the basic payment of security personnel for years. Verdi had already drawn the ire of the industry at the beginning of 2019 because air traffic was severely hampered with all-day warning strikes. At that time it was about aligning the wages of the inspectors in East and West and achieving a nationwide collective agreement.
Aviation industry is struggling with staff shortages
Finally, both sides agreed on a new collective agreement for the approximately 25,000 employees, which provided for annual increases of 3.5 to 9.77 percent for the next three years. Now the old conflict has broken out again. Because there are still regional differences in payment.
So far, three rounds of negotiations have been unsuccessful, and talks are to be held again in Berlin on March 16th and 17th. Representatives of the BDLS had recently spoken of initial approximations. But the now rolling wave of strikes shows how far apart the two sides still are.
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The pressure to come to a solution is enormous. The pandemic and now the war in Ukraine are hampering the recovery of air traffic in Germany. Nevertheless, airlines and airports hope that people will fly more on vacation again at Easter and in summer. The latent danger of strikes could cause the strong booking figures of the past few weeks to collapse again. Because without the security checks, no passenger can board the plane.
Even without labor disputes, the situation when it comes to handling passengers at Easter and in the summer is likely to become difficult. Because after two years of the pandemic with only severely restricted air traffic, many employees of the so-called ground services have turned away from the industry and found work elsewhere.
Finding new staff at short notice is difficult. Because in the security area, a sovereign task of the state, employees have to be trained longer. “Of course, we respect the right to strike of the employees of the security service providers,” said a spokesman for Fraport: “However, we have no sympathy for such a comprehensive strike that is carried out on the backs of the passengers.” Because of security requirements, no other staff can be hired use at the checkpoints.
“The collective bargaining partners belong at the negotiating table, right away,” demanded Ralph Beisel, general manager of the airport association ADV: “The industrial action taken at short notice means a horror scenario for the passengers, who have no way of preparing for the flight cancellations.”
More: Security staff at airports on warning strike – numerous flights are cancelled