Berlin/Frankfurt.
In the wage conflict of the public sector, Verdi wants to paralyze seven airports all day on Friday. What passengers have to be prepared for.
Tens of thousands of flight passengers have to prepare for cancellations and delays in Germany on Friday (February 17). The Verdi union announced on Wednesday night that it would then paralyze the airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen all day – thus expanding the wage dispute in the public sector at airports. The employees of the operating companies are often paid according to the collective agreements of the municipalities.
The warning strike is scheduled to begin early Friday morning and end on Saturday night. Aid deliveries to the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria are said to be exempt from the strike.
The airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen are said to be on strike all day
With the now continued warning strikes, the employees want to give emphasis to their demands in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute between the federal and local governments. Further warning strikes have been announced in Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, among others, before the second round of collective bargaining on February 22nd and 23rd.
According to the union, the strike is expected to have a strong impact, especially in domestic air traffic – from delays and cancellations to the partial standstill of air traffic. Behle pointed out that aid deliveries for the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria would not be on strike. Many aid deliveries would also be made via the THW’s center for foreign logistics in Mainz.
Air traffic is extremely prone to strikes because of the fragmented service providers, because many small, safety-relevant groups are powerful enough to bring operations to a standstill. Basically, the strike by the airport fire brigade is enough to shut down the entire operation.
The last major warning strike with similar consequences was several years ago: In April 2018, hundreds of flights across Germany had to be canceled because collective bargaining for municipal and federal employees was not progressing. In eight federal states, tens of thousands of employees went down their work during a warning strike. In addition to airports, urban transport, daycare centers, clinics, administrations and indoor swimming pools were also affected in many places.
Hardly any air traffic possible at Frankfurt Airport
After the warning strike was announced, Frankfurt Airport urgently advised passengers not to appear at the airport. The operating company Fraport announced that it would not be possible to catch a plane in Frankfurt. Transfer traffic is also likely to be affected and will not be processed. Concrete flight cancellations are the responsibility of the airlines. Lufthansa has not yet commented on the flight offer on Friday.
So far, a good 1,000 take-offs and landings with around 137,000 passengers have been planned for Friday at Germany’s largest airport. According to Fraport, only necessary activities, for example to avert danger or to secure technical systems, can be ensured within the framework of emergency service agreements. (dpa)
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