1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
PoliticsGermany

Germany: Verdi union calls more airport strikes on Thursday

March 12, 2024

The Verdi union has told members at several German airports to down tools on Thursday. But the action spares the country's two busiest hubs. Germany's trains and planes have been facing near-daily disruptions of late.

Verdi members and ground crew workers gathered outside a Lufthansa facility in Hamburg during a strike action. march 8, 2024.
Verdi ground crews were last on strike as recently as March 8Image: Ulrich Perrey/dpa/picture alliance

Trade union Verdi on Tuesday called on members to strike this Thursday, March 14, at five German airports in all. 

The action would not affect Frankfurt and Munich airports, the busiest two in the country. 

Security staff screening passengers at Karlsruhe/Baden Baden and Cologne/Bonn airports were told to stop work on Thursday.

And at Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart airports, security staff for passengers, goods and freight, as well as those in customer service areas, were told not to work. 

Both trains and planes in Germany were affected by strike action on Tuesday.

Several different labor disputes have broken down simultaneously, leading to a series of industrial actions targeting Lufthansa, airport operators and national rail operator Deutsche Bahn. 

Germany's central bank warned last month of a likely impact on productivity if the public transport disruptions persisted.

German strikes hurting economy and travelers alike

02:19

This browser does not support the video element.

What Verdi said about the strike

Thursday's strike would last for the entire working day, Verdi said.

The union said that five rounds of negotiations were yet to yield a deal on improved pay for some 25,000 members. It's negotiating with the Berlin-based BDLS agency that's responsible for airport security nationwide.

"The employers did recently submit an admittedly improved, but far from satisfactory offer. We will not come toegether this way," Wolfgang Pieper, lead negotiator for Verdi, was quoted as saying in a press release. He said members were ready to increase the pressure with another strike and warned that the action might be expanded. "It's now incumbent on the employers to finally sumbit a substantially improved offer," he said. 

He said the offer would involve pay increases in stages over two years, but said that "for two years it is less than we demanded for one year. It's not enough." 

Verdi says it's calling for an hourly wage increase of €2.80, higher performance-based bonuses and better terms for overtime. It says the measures are necessary to counteract inflation in recent years. 

msh/wmr (AFP, dpa)

Skip next section Explore more
Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW