At the entrance to Geneva International Airport, June 30, 2023 (AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI)
Geneva International Airport, the second largest in Switzerland, expects air traffic to return to normal on Saturday after the lifting of a historic strike by its staff which caused the cancellation of dozens of flights.
Genève Aéroport, however, recommends that travelers check with their airline, stressing that “despite this return to normal, repercussions are to be feared due to the accumulated delays” on Friday, during this historic strike by employees of the public company .
An agreement was finally reached with the staff who were protesting against an overhaul of the salary policy.
The agreement provides that the management, the Public Service Union and the Staff Consultative Commission have one year to agree on the parameters and methods of implementing the salary reform, for implementation in January 2025.
At the end of the afternoon, the airport had indicated that 138 flights had to be canceled on the first day of departures on summer vacation.
The operators who ensure the guidance of planes on the tarmac having disengaged, the airport had decided to stop all traffic between 04:00 GMT and 08:00 GMT for security reasons.
Dozens of other flights were delayed, causing many queues outside and in the airport, without however creating an angry movement among the struggling passengers, while the unions and strikers camped in front of the entrance to the building, chanting slogans.
Employees demonstrate during a strike at Geneva International Airport on June 30, 2023 (AFP/Fabrice COFFRINI)
“It’s not worse than a day of snow,” summed up the general manager of Genève Aéroport, André Schneider, to journalists, about the four hours during which no plane could take off or land.
After a meeting with the management in the morning, the trade unionists had renewed the strike all day and Saturday. But the ground controllers did not follow this decision, unlike the rest of the staff on strike, traffic was able to resume shortly after 08:00 GMT, albeit at a slower pace.
– Airport growth at half mast –
The agreement reached between the parties was announced after a meeting of trade unionists with the Geneva cantonal authorities. The airport is an autonomous public establishment which belongs to the State of Geneva.
According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Genève Aéroport, Pierre Bernheim, the overhaul of the company’s salary policy is justified because of the airport’s growth forecasts at half mast. “We can no longer afford to have automatic annual” salaries, he said.
The airline Swiss had warned that all Friday morning flights departing from Geneva would be affected. Easyjet was also affected, Geneva being an important hub for the low cost company.
Strikes are very rare in Switzerland.
“We have the right to strike when we have exhausted all the remedies and the consultation process,” Claire Pellegrin, 43, president of the airport staff commission, told AFP. “It’s the ultimate solution.” The social conflict had been simmering for several days.
This strike is historic: it is the first involving airport staff employed under a public law contract (and not external collaborators, who are also vital to its operation), in the 104-year history of Cointrin, local media pointed out.
Over the period from January to May, the airport, which has more than 1,000 employees, welcomed nearly 6.8 million passengers, according to official statistics.
© 2023 AFP
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