GERMANY: Hundreds of flights are cancelled across Germany as airport ground staff go on strike over pay

Record ID: 340758

  • Title: GERMANY: Hundreds of flights are cancelled across Germany as airport ground staff go on strike over pay
  • Date: 28th March 2012
  • Summary: COLOGNE, GERMANY (MARCH 27, 2012) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) VARIOUS OF PLANES ON TARMAC AT COLOGNE/BONN AIRPORT STRIKE BANNERS VARIOUS OF STRIKING GROUND WORKERS GATHERED AT TERMINAL BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (German) HEAD OF THE WORKERS COUNCIL AT COLOGNE/BONN AIRPORT, HAKAN GUELCICEK, SAYING: "Today the airport employees are striking, especially those involved in prepari
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany, Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Economy
  • Reuters ID: LVABJP24JMRRNO1M9YZOA1CYJM07
  • Story Text: Deutsche Lufthansa cancelled hundreds of flights on Tuesday (March 27) at Germany's largest airports as ground handlers went on strike over a pay dispute.
    Ground handlers in Frankfurt, the country's biggest hub, would strike from 0300 to 1230 GMT in a walkout organised by German services union Verdi, the airline said in a statement on Monday (March 26).
    Lufthansa, which operates about 1,850 flights on a typical day, said it cancelled about 400 of its flights planned for Tuesday.
    Air Berlin planned to cancel eight flights out of several hundred, an Air Berlin spokeswoman said.
    Munich airport was also be affected by the strike as well as Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Cologne.
    Hakan Guelcicek, the head of the workers council at Cologne/Bonn airport, said workers were entitled to higher wages.
    "We want to recover all of of the real wage losses which we've seen in the past few years at the airports, of course through strong wage negotiation talks but also with a safety bonus because since September 11 we have had more and more responsibilities. Safety checks have to be carried out five or six times a day, they have to be more attentive, they have to look and see which people are entering the airport and have to think about it. It is a burden, this safety and security, which should be recompensed," he said.
    Verdi warned that the strike times could change and said smaller airports, such as Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen, would also would also experience work stoppages on Tuesday.
    Guelcicek said there had already been an impact on flights.
    "Overnight it was especially the cargo planes which were affected. Some airlines already cancelled eight flights in advance and we hope that some other planes will also be cancelled or there will be several delays," he said.
    If the union and employers fail to agree in talks this week, the dispute could go to mediation. Should mediation fail, the union could ballot its members on a broader strike in the second half of April, Bsirske said.
    Verdi is pushing for a 6.5 percent pay rise for around 2 million federal and local public sector workers, and at least 200 euros more per month.
    Employers have offered a 3.3 percent rise over a period of 24 months and a one-off payment.
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