Eight German airports paralyzed by staff strike

MISE À DAY

Eight German airports, including busy hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, are paralyzed on Friday due to a staff strike amid tense wage negotiations. < /p>

At Frankfurt airport, the country's largest, “the situation is very calm, there are hardly any travelers in the halls” while a dozen aircraft movements are planned this Friday, against a thousand in normal times, told AFP Dieter Hulick, spokesperson for the operator Fraport.

There were also supposed to be no flights until 1 a.m. Saturday at Munich Airport, which affects more than 700 take-offs and landings, said Corinna Born, spokeswoman for the airport operator.

Medical, technical and other emergency flights for the Munich Security Conference, which opens on Friday, are not affected.

The walkout was organized to cause “strong repercussions, mainly on domestic flights, ranging from delays to cancellations, even a partial stoppage of traffic”, according to a press release on Wednesday from the German services union Verdi at the origin of the movement. .

“The workers are jointly putting pressure on their employers because the negotiations have so far produced no results,” said Christine Behle, vice president of Verdi, in a statement.

The Verdi union is currently carrying out branch negotiations for public sector workers, airport ground staff and air security personnel, to demand better wages to compensate for the loss of purchasing power linked to high inflation.

The one-day work stoppage affects the airports of the cities of Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart and Leipzig.

“Inflation, high energy and food prices are forcing many workers into a precarious situation,” Behle said.

The union staged a similar strike at Berlin airport last month, resulting in the cancellation or rescheduling of approximately 300 flights.

Record inflation in Germany in recent months, peaking at 10.4% in October, has strained annual wage negotiations in the various sectors of activity in the country, sometimes accompanied by work stoppages.

Post employees have thus observed several days of strike since the beginning of the year, at the call of the Verdi union, which is demanding a 15% wage increase.