Security check employees are protesting at airports across Germany today, with almost all departures cancelled. The impacted airports are Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Hanover, Erfurt, Stuttgart and Dresden, Verdi Union has confirmed. Munich airport is supposed to remain unaffected.
Unlike other strikes where a minimum quota of workers is still required to maintain services, in this case, all employees are out. Since passengers will not be able to complete the security checks, all departing flights from the affected airports are cancelled. Arrivals and transfers are also expected to be affected, especially transfers, since they sometimes require passing through the security check again.
Although the strike lasts from 3 am on Thursday, 1 February, until 3 am on Friday, 2 February, the impact is expected to affect flight schedules for a longer time, until airlines and passengers manage to make up for the lost journeys.
Flag carrier Lufthansa “strongly recommends” passengers to not even go to the airport. Passengers have the option to rebook their flight, even if it has not (yet) been cancelled, with another flight from any airline of the Lufthansa Group from 31 January to 8 February 2024. In addition, those travelling through Frankfurt on domestic flights have the option of rebooking a train instead of another flight.
Verdi represents about 25,000 employees with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS). They have been asking for raised salaries, to offset inflation, and better pay for working overtime. They were offered a 4% increase this year, meaning between €0.55 and €0.82 per hour, followed by a 3% increase next year, but they are arguing the offer is insufficient and asking for €2.80 more per hour. “Our goal is to compensate for the loss of purchasing power among employees in the long term,” said Verdi lead negotiator Wolfgang Pieper.
“The work of the aviation security forces must remain financially attractive so that the urgently needed skilled workers can be recruited and retained”, the union said in a press release on Tuesday. “There is already a shortage of qualified workers who are willing to work extremely flexibly at the airports around the clock, on weekends and on public holidays – security in air traffic does not come for free.”
A round of negotiations is due to take place on 6 and 7 February in Berlin. Meanwhile, Verdi plans a separate public transport strike for tomorrow, across 15 of Germany’s 16 states.
