The Verdi union, which includes employees of Germany’s largest airports, has called on its members to hold a one-day warning strike next Monday.
The union is forced to resort to protest action because of employers’ unwillingness to meet workers’ demands in collective bargaining, it said in a statement on its website.
The union is seeking an 8 per cent wage increase, or at least €350 a month, as well as demanding higher bonuses for heavy work and extra days off. The protests will affect 11 airports, including Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin.
Germany’s airport association ADV warned that the industrial action could disrupt the plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. ADV managing director Ralf Beisel said:
“Holding strikes at 11 airports simultaneously cuts off an entire country from air traffic. We urge Verdi to take the interests of passengers into account and seek a negotiated settlement. The economic damage caused by such strikes is enormous and affects not only the aviation industry but the entire economy in an already extremely strained economic situation.”
Apart from airlines and airports, other industries will also be affected due to flight cancellations and delays. Hotels, catering and retail businesses in the affected regions could suffer significant revenue losses. When flights are cancelled or delayed, the entire supply chain also suffers, the ADV said in a statement published on its website.
