Hundreds of flights axed as fresh strike hits German airports

The coordinated industrial action marks a major escalation in Verdi’s dispute with employers, following previous walkouts at Berlin, Stuttgart, Cologne/Bonn and Duesseldorf airports. (AFP)

• At least 220,000 travelers will be hit by cancelations and delays
• Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa accused Verdi of ramping up tensions ‘to an unacceptable extent’

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Hundreds of flights will be canceled at eight German airports Tuesday, including at the nation’s busiest travel hub Frankfurt, as security staff walk off the job in a deepening row over pay.
Germany’s powerful Verdi union said the strike would last from 02:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the airports of Frankfurt, Munich, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dresden and Erfurt.
At least 220,000 travelers will be hit by cancelations and delays, the ADV airport association said, in a calculation that includes knock-on effects in other airports.
Frankfurt airport operator Fraport, which has axed 570 out of 1,200 scheduled flights, has urged passengers not to come to Europe’s fourth-busiest airport during the strike hours.
The coordinated industrial action marks a major escalation in Verdi’s dispute with employers, following walkouts at Berlin’s airports last Monday and in Stuttgart, Cologne/Bonn and Duesseldorf last Thursday.
Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa accused Verdi of ramping up tensions “to an unacceptable extent.”
The ADV airport association blasted the wave of strikes as “irresponsible.”
“Verdi is unjustifiably carrying out these strikes on the backs of travelers, airlines and airports,” ADV head Ralph Beisel said in a statement.
Verdi, which represents some 23,000 aviation security workers, said it was forced to ramp up pressure because talks with the BDLS employers’ association were deadlocked.
“Employers did not respond to last week’s warning strikes at all, they haven’t come up with an improved offer,” Verdi board member Ute Kittel told public broadcaster ZDF.
The union wants to see wages raised to €20 ($23) per hour for workers carrying out passenger, freight, personnel and goods checks at all German airports.
Rates currently vary nationwide, with staff in some airports in eastern Germany earning around €14 hourly, compared with just over €17 for their peers in the capital and western parts of the country.
“Security is not worth less in the east, and the employees are not worth less,” said Kittel.
The BDLS has baulked at the proposed wage hike, instead offering pay bumps of up to 6.4 percent.
The next round of talks is slated for January 23.
Lufthansa, among the airlines worst-hit by the strikes, said Verdi “has no interest in making its contribution to improving Germany as an aviation location.”
“We already have the lowest quality security checks at the highest costs, compared to Europe and other countries around the world,” said Lufthansa board member Detlef Kayser.
The dispute is the latest upheaval for air travelers in Germany, after a series of strikes by Ryanair cabin and cockpit crew in the second of half of 2018, including two pan-European walkouts, caused huge disruptions.