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Strike could force more airport closures

As security personnel continue to strike, airport ground staff and flight technicians are considering joining their ranks this weekend, a move that could force several airports to close.

Published: 8 June 2012 10:02 CEST

Almost 3,500 security guards have gone on strike since talks broke down last week between the Norwegian Union of General Workers and employer organization NHO Services.

Petter Furulund, director of NHO Service, believes the sides desperately need to get back to the negotiating table.

“When lives don’t get saved because there are no security guards on the streets and when airlines are losing tens of millions of kroner, then it’s serious. The sides need to be forced together one way or another,” he told news agency NTB.

Union leader Erna Hagensen disputed the claim that the strike has endangered lives and said she would be willing to negotiate as soon as NHO was ready to present a new wage proposal.

”They can’t just keep saying no and at the same time hope for new talks,” said Hagensen.

While the security staff strike has led to queues and other problems at the country’s airpoirts, the situation for travellers could worsen considerably at the weekend if flight technicians, fire safety staff and other airport ground staff are called out on strike.

Unless a deal is reached by midnight on Friday, some 180 LO-affiliated employees of airport operator Avinor will go on strike, along with around 500 flight technicians from the independent Norsk Flytekniker Organisasjon.

A strike among Avinor workers could lead to airport closures at Ørsta/Volda, Førde, Brønnøysund, Ålesund, Harstad, Leknes and Kirkenes from Saturday morning. Stavanger’s Sola airport is likely to close on Monday unless the dispute is resolved.

With no end to the dispute in sight, airlines are having to work hard to keep their passengers up to date on developments.

”We have brought in extra staff at our customer support centre and are working furiously to keep passengers updated and make alternative arrangements for those affected,” said Norwegian airlines spokesman Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen.

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German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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