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Dozens of flights cancelled in Hamburg as ground staff strike

Air passengers in Germany are facing major disruption Monday as ground staff take part in an all-day strike over a pay dispute.

Published: 4 February 2019 08:40 CET
Dozens of flights cancelled in Hamburg as ground staff strike
Passengers queuing at Hamburg airport on Monday. Photo: DPA

Nearly 60 flights have been axed so far at the international airport in the Hanseatic city, and travellers have been warned to expect more disruption.

The so-called 'warning strike' by ground staff was called at short notice on Sunday, by the powerful union Verdi, in connection with ongoing pay negotiations.

Air passengers were warned to expect delays as well as cancelled flights. A total of 58 flights were cancelled on Monday, according to an airport spokeswoman – including 27 arrivals and 31 departures. “There could also be some more,” she added.

Ground staff include employees responsible for baggage loading, aircraft handling and buses.

SEE ALSO: Hundreds of flights axed as fresh strike hits German airports

A spokeswoman for the Verdi union said that around 150 employees on the early shift had downed their tools and walked out around 3am. Between 12noon and 2pm, employees on the late shift were also expected to join the action.

'Inadequate offer'

Verdi said the strike's been called because of the inadequate offer from bosses in the current collective bargaining round with the Employers' Association for Labour Law in Hamburg (AVH). Verdi demands a monthly wage increase of €275 for nearly 1000 employees in ground handling services.

“In the collective bargaining, we were told that €140 more would have to be demanded (from passengers) per aircraft,” said the Verdi spokeswoman. With an average of 124 passengers per flight, this amounts to customers paying about one euro more in order to fully meet the union's demands.

“Thirty-five people are busy handling a plane. People have to think about how much they pay for their ticket,” the spokeswoman added.

Ground staff on the picket line at Hamburg airport Monday. Photo: DPA

Meanwhile, Verdi came under fire for the action. “An unannounced 24-hour warning strike is totally excessive and disproportionate,” criticized airport spokeswoman Katja Bromm.

On Monday morning there was only a skeleton team of ground staff, according to an airport spokeswoman. “At the moment there are no shuttle buses from the car parks further away to the airport,” she reported. A substitute service with taxis was planned.

Christian Noack, Managing Director of HAM Ground Handling, which is responsible for the ground staff services at Hamburg Airport, also took a critical view of the action.

SEE ALSO: When are airline passengers in Germany entitled to flight compensation?

Chaos for customers

Airports in Germany have been hit by several strikes in recent weeks, resulting in chaos for customers.

On January 15th, eight airports – Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden and Erfurt – were affected in strike action by security staff. Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest air hub, cancelled more than 600 flights on the day.

Air travellers in Germany also faced a series of strikes by Ryanair cabin and cockpit crew in the second half of 2018, including two pan-European walkouts, which caused huge disruptions.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
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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