Air Traffic Disrupted as Verdi Union Launches Strike Action
A strike by the ver.di union, affecting public service employees at airports, ground transportation and air traffic control, is expected to cause disruptions for travelers. The 24-hour strike, which began on Sunday at Hamburg’s airport, is expected to continue until Monday evening. The union is protesting the ongoing salary dispute with the federal government and local authorities.
At Hamburg’s “Airport Helmut Schmidt” only 10 scheduled departures took place on Sunday, while 144 arrivals and 139 departures were cancelled, affecting over 40,000 passengers. Berlin’s Hauptstadtflughafen is expecting 246 arrivals and departures, as well as 67,000 passengers, to be affected. Frankfurt’s Rhein-Main-Flughafen is expecting 1,054 flight cancellations, affecting around 150,000 passengers, while Munich’s airport is expecting only around 170 of the planned 820 takeoffs and landings to occur.
Hamburg airport’s spokesperson, Katja Bromm, criticized the union’s decision to start the strike on Sunday, saying, “The union is bringing the airport to a standstill – and that without a notice period, exactly at the start of Hamburg’s spring break. This is causing harm to people, primarily to the public.”
The strike is expected to affect airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich, with only security personnel at Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports called to strike. According to the airport association, ADV, more than 3,400 flights are expected to be cancelled, affecting over 510,000 passengers.
The German Air Traffic Control Association estimates that, on a typical day, there are around 6,000 flights at German airports, with an additional 3,000 overflights in the German airspace. The ongoing dispute has already led to the cancellation of flights, affecting over 800,000 passengers, at airports in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich.
Ver.di is demanding an 8% pay increase, at a minimum of €350 per month, as well as three additional free days, improved working and health conditions, 30 days of vacation and free doctor’s choice for employees undergoing regular medical checks. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for March 14-16 in Potsdam, Berlin.