1 in 1 German airport workers demonstrate during a 24hour strike for wage increases at Frankfurt Airport on February 17, 2023. — Photo: Heiko Becker/ Portal German airport workers demonstrate during a 24hour strike for wage increases at Frankfurt Airport , on February 17, 2023 — Photo: Heiko Becker/ Portal
A 24hour strike at seven German airports, including Frankfurt and Munich, on Friday saw Lufthansa cancel more than 1,300 flights throughout the day.
International flights from Germany should also be affected.
The airline also ceased operations at the central airports in Frankfurt and Munich on Friday.
Almost 300,000 passengers are expected to be affected by the disruption.
Union workers are pushing for higher wages and threatening a summer of “chaos” if their demands are not met.
The strike coincided with the start of the Munich Security Conference, which was attended by more than 40 heads of state and 60 ministers.
In an early sign of disruption, the Romanian foreign minister, unable to board a canceled flight, will be forced to fly to Austria and then make the more than fourhour journey to Munich, a Romanian embassy official said.
It is the latest in a series of strikes and protests hitting major European economies including France, Britain and Spain as higher food and energy prices hit incomes and living standards in the wake of the pandemic and war in Ukraine.
According to the airport association ADV, around 295,000 passengers are affected by the cancellation of around 2,340 flights at the airports in Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart.
“We really haven’t experienced such an escalation as a result of a strike,” said Ralph Beisel from ADV to Bayerischer Rundfunk. “As we look at the airport terminals this morning, it reminds us more of the worst days of the coronavirus and less of a warning.”
Germany’s Verdi union announced the strike on Wednesday after saying that collective bargaining for ground, public sector and aviation security workers had made little progress.
The union pushed for a wage increase of 10.5% or at least 500 euros a month.
“If nothing is done about the payment now, we are all in for another chaotic summer,” Verdi Vice President Christine Behle told Inforadio. “It’s about sending a very strong signal.”
Lufthansa declined to give an estimate of the cost of the strike but has said on previous occasions such disruptions typically cost €1015 million a day.
Verdi boss Frank Werneke told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper that the strike could spread to hospitals and garbage collection.