Berlin –
Workers at airports in Berlin and Hamburg went on strike on Monday amid a dispute over pay increases, leading to flight cancellations in both German cities.
In Berlin, all 220 outbound flights and 70 out of 240 inbound flights have been canceled, German news agency DPA reported. Hamburg’s airport announced early in the morning that 50 out of 160 departures had been canceled due to a strike just announced by the trade union ver.di.
The strike was supposed to start at 3:30 am and last until midnight.
Unions want to put pressure on employers who are negotiating bonuses and overtime pay rules for special hours such as weekends.
At Berlin’s BER airport, employees from the air security area, passenger control, personnel and goods control went on strike on Monday. Without these employees, the airport had to cancel the departure of all passenger flights because they could not check passengers and enter the security area.
Trade unions have gone on strike frequently in recent months (three at Berlin airports so far this year) and have hit local transport, hospitals and other public services to highlight their demands. .
Over the weekend, German government officials and trade unions reached an agreement on wages for more than 2.5 million public sector workers, ending a long dispute and avoiding a possible devastating all-out strike. However, that contract did not include airport employees.
On Wednesday, the ver.di union announced a strike for local public transport in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which have yet to reach an agreement.
