Industrial action before the weekend
Verdi wants to strike again at major airports
04/18/2023 5:21 p.m
For years, the union has been trying to push through better wages for aviation security personnel – so far to no avail. Now follows the next strike at three major airports on Thursday and Friday. Flight cancellations are possible, and there are problems for travelers.
The Verdi union wants to largely paralyze the airports in Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne/Bonn with strikes by aviation security personnel on Thursday and Friday. Verdi said that longer waiting times and even flight cancellations or cancellations are to be expected. The industrial action applies to employees in the aviation security sector who work in passenger control, personnel and goods control and in service areas. The strike usually begins on the night from Wednesday to Thursday and ends on the night from Friday to Saturday. The airport in Hamburg has already announced that the central security check will remain closed on both days. All departures are cancelled. There are just over 300 in all.
Verdi has been negotiating with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) for years to increase the time premiums for night, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday work and to achieve better overtime pay. Despite the recent strikes, there has been no breakthrough so far. A written offer from the BDLS is insufficient and cannot be agreed upon, because it does not bring any improvements for work on Saturdays and Sundays, surcharges for night work are too low and are only planned from 10 p.m. and not from 8 p.m. Employers for full-time and part-time employees did not want to pay any supplements for overtime or overtime.
“We call on the BDLS to finally present a negotiable offer in the negotiations on April 27th and 28th in order to avoid further strikes and to end the conflict before Pentecost,” said Verdi specialist Wolfgang Pieper. Most recently, the continuation of the talks on April 11 and 12 did not lead to a solution and the employers did not submit an improved offer. “Work at airports must become more attractive in order to be able to retain aviation security specialists and recruit new ones in order to avoid longer waiting times for holidaymakers.”
Germany is also threatened with another standstill in rail traffic: According to information from circles of wage negotiators, Deutsche Bahn and other railways will go on strike on Friday. That said both representatives of the railways and the railway and transport union (EVG). The reason for the strike is that employers such as Deutsche Bahn have so far remained immobile in collective bargaining, the union representatives told the Reuters news agency.