Take-offs and landings again – strike at Geneva airport continues until Saturday evening – News

  • Despite the strike, the runway at Geneva Airport was able to reopen.
  • There has been a strike since 4 a.m. because of a new wage model that management has approved.
  • Air traffic was suspended from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
  • The strikers want to continue the work stoppage until Saturday evening.

The decision to continue the strike was almost unanimous, said Jamshid Pouranpir, union secretary at VPOD. “The management’s proposal consisted of some accompanying measures to better administer the bitter pill,” he added.

Negotiations between the airport management and the strikers took place during the morning – apparently without success, as SRF domestic correspondent Urs Gilgen explains. According to a communiqué from the airport management, it was suggested to the strikers that a round table should be held at the end of September to discuss wage measures. He is currently at Geneva Airport.

Shortly before 10 a.m., a trade union delegate stepped in front of the strikers and asked whether the airport management’s proposals would be accepted. The crowd yelled no. “Unless a new proposal is put on the table, this could be a pretty busy day for airline passengers and airport staff,” says Urs Gilgen.

The head of Geneva Airport, André Schneider, came personally to make suggestions to the strikers.

The proposals of the airport operators


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In a press release, management went into more detail about the proposal rejected by the workforce. It was planned to set up a round table at the end of September to discuss the functional classes, the bonuses and the implementation of the new wage system.

Management also proposed a higher bonus for sharing in the results. She felt that this was a first step “without calling into question the validity of the project to ensure the future of Geneva Airport”.

He left the airport to boos from the staff. The new wage model, approved by the board of directors on Thursday, was the reason for this industrial action, which is taking place at the beginning of the long holidays.

First take-offs and landings again since 10.15 a.m

After no planes took off or landed between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., air traffic has now resumed, according to Geneva Airport. Geneva Airport reports on Twitter that there have been initial take-offs and landings. These include Air Canada and United Airlines flights.

This is because the employees responsible for traffic on the tarmac resumed work at 10 a.m. as promised.

The strike meetings are to gradually decide on the further course of the strike coordinated by the public sector union VPOD.

The strike takes place on the first day of the holiday, when almost 54,000 passengers were expected for a total of 394 flights during the day.

Passengers as a pawn in the power play


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Valérie Wacker, correspondent for French-speaking Switzerland: “Employee representatives say it is currently not possible to predict how the model will affect wages. The airport management, on the other hand, writes in a communiqué that not a single salary will be reduced, but that some employees will no longer receive wage increases.

So there is a power play going on at Geneva Airport between employers and employees. And on Friday, up to 54,000 people who are hungry for holidays become their plaything.

Airline passengers are called that Consult Geneva airport website Or contact your airline.”

Around 250 employees and trade unionists had already gathered in front of Geneva Airport the morning before the company management made its decision to protest against the new wage model. This is the first walkout by Geneva airport staff since its creation in 1919.

According to the union, around 1,000 employees will be affected by the planned changes, mainly those who work in security areas such as passport control.

source site-72