Ground Staff at 13 German Airports Join Strike
Ground staff at major airports in Germany went on strike simultaneously on the 10th (local time), resulting in the cancellation of over 3,000 flights.
The strike, scheduled for 24 hours from midnight, involved ground staff from 13 airports affiliated with the public service union Ver.di. Employees at Hamburg Airport began their strike a day earlier. At Karlsruhe and Weze airports, only security screening staff participated in the strike.
At Frankfurt Airport, the largest in Germany, 1,054 out of 1,116 scheduled flights were canceled that day. Berlin Airport canceled all 492 flights. The German Airport Association (ADV) estimated that about 3,400 flights were canceled due to the strike, inconveniencing approximately 510,000 passengers. Around 6,000 flights take off and land across Germany daily.
Ver.di is demanding an 8% wage increase and an extension of vacation by three days. The employer, ADV, rejected the union's proposal, citing financial difficulties. The union announced a one-day warning strike on the 7th ahead of the third round of wage negotiations scheduled for the 14th.
Workers in other public sectors, such as buses, trams, hospitals, and care facilities, have also been sporadically striking recently to demand wage increases. Ver.di represents about 2.6 million members and negotiates with federal and state governments.
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