Another warning strike brings Germany’s main airports to a halt again

Another war ning strike by transport workers in Germany over pay increases brought the country’s main airports to a halt again Monday. The strike was called by two of Germany’s largest labor unions, Ver.di and EVG , which represent staff at airports, ports, railways, buses and subways. It coincided with another round of talks between public-sector employees and management to resolve the dispute and follows a similar work stoppage on Feb. 17 that brought air traffic to a standstill. Ver.di said in a statement that the strike is taking place at Bremen (BRE), Dortmund (DTM), Dresden (DRS), Dusseldorf (DUS), Frankfurt (FRA), Hamburg (HAM), Hanover (HAJ), Cologne/Bonn (CGN), Leipzig/Halle (LEJ), Munich (MUC) and Stuttgart (STR) airports, among others. The union said in the statement it has been negotiating with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) for years to increase bonuses for night, Saturday, Sunday and holiday work as well as a better collective agreement on overtime pay for security and service staff at commercial airports. There has been no progress in talks with the BDLS despite the warning strikes, the statement added. “There is a lack of sufficient skilled staff at the airports, so that there could be longer waiting times for holiday travelers this summer as well,” Ver.di spokesperson Wolfgang Pieper said in the statement. “The employers have it in their hands to retain the employed skilled workers and to attract new ones with more attractive conditions." Ver.di is pushing for a raise of 10.5% while EVG is demanding a 12% increase. Further disruptions expected Frankfurt (FRA) , Europe’s biggest air cargo hub, typically handles about 5,200 tonnes of cargo a day, but no scheduled passenger or cargo flights took off or landed Monday because of the strike, an FRA spokesperson told Air Cargo Next . “Rerouting cargo shipments to other airports outside Germany is definitely an option but we don’t really know if airlines and forwarders are doing this,” the FRA spokesperson said. “Approximately 1,170 aircraft movements and about 160,000 passengers were planned for [Monday],” according to the spokesperson. “All German airports are affected by the strike, except Berlin and Hahn. The strike is scheduled to end at midnight. We expect further disruptions also for [Tuesday] when operations will start again.” Lufthansa Cargo , the primary air cargo carrier at FRA, could not be reached Monday, but Friday told Air Cargo Next that the strike would bring air traffic to “a virtual standstill. “The entire passenger flight program of the Lufthansa Airline Group at Frankfurt and Munich [where the strike began Sunday] will be suspended on the strike day and with it a significant amount of belly cargo capacity,” a Lufthansa spokesperson said. DHL , which operates its largest air hub in Europe at LEJ, was not immediately available to comment on the impact of the strike. In a message on its website, LEJ said "significant restrictions in long-distance and regional traffic are to be expected." CGN, United Parcel Service’s European air hub, confirmed to Air Cargo Next that there were no take-offs or landings Monday because of the strike. UPS declined to comment on if it was rerouting flights that normally land at CGN to airports outside of Germany and trucking export shipments to those airports to limit disruption to customers. French labor situation Ongoing labor unrest in France over state pension reform has seen the government issue requisition orders for strikers at oil refineries, compelling them to cross picket lines. Airlines had been alerted to equip their aircraft on departure from abroad with enough fuel to allow them to leave France without having to refuel. “We can refuel at CDG but we try to limit the quantity there and take extra fuel at other [airports],” said a spokesperson Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, which has its main European hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). “There is no impact on cargo at the moment.” Another one-day general strike has been called for Tuesday. The French civil aviation authority has recommended that flight capacity be reduced at Paris’ second airport, Orly (ORY), and at several regional airports until Wednesday due to the industrial action.

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