Hundreds of flights were canceled at Germany’s Hamburg Airport as workers launched a strike. Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE
March 10 (UPI) — A strike at Germany’s Hamburg Airport left all outgoing flights canceled Monday, with more airports likely to soon be affected.
The airport announced that the German trade union ver.di has called for a strike affecting several areas at the facility, including passenger security checks and aircraft handling, making departures impossible.
The expected daily load of over 40,000 passengers on Sunday, with 139 departures and 144 arrivals at the airport in Germany’s second-largest city, was reduced to only 10 flights before the strike began at 6:30 a.m. local time. The strike began with no notice, at the busy beginning of the city’s spring break.
Ver.di said in a press release that its members would also soon stop working Monday “at the airports in Munich, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Frankfurt/Main, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Weeze, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin-Brandenburg and Leipzig-Halle to fight for fair wages and better conditions.”
German airports in these cities are issuing warnings for the public to anticipate heavy restrictions on passenger traffic and reduced flight schedules.
The union also stated that it’s “calling for better working conditions, more free time and fair pay for all employees in the federal and local public service,” including its own members.
The work action was advanced a day at Hamburg Airport from the previously announced overall March 10 strike start in order to put added pressure on the airports and to keep them from bringing in nonunion workers to cover the loss of employees.
Arrivals are expected to continue but will be subject to cancellations and disruptions. Talks between the two sides are scheduled for Friday in Potsdam.