Not only train passengers, but also air travelers are currently affected by a wave of strikes: After the Lufthansa employees, the security staff at the airport are now taking to the barricades for more money. The Verdi union has called on employees in the aviation security industry to go on warning strikes at five airports on Thursday: Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden. This will be followed on Friday by the aviation security staff in Dresden, Leipzig, Hanover, Dortmund and Weeze as well as the employees in personnel, goods and cargo control in Munich.
The union justifies the strike by saying that in five rounds of negotiations no agreement could be reached on an increase in the collective wages of security guards at airports. “The employers recently presented an improved but still inadequate offer. That’s not how we come together,” says Verdi negotiator Wolfgang Pieper.
Verdi negotiates on behalf of around 25,000 employees of private security companies who work at airports in passenger and baggage screening as well as in other security-related service areas. The union is demanding 2.80 euros more wages per hour, higher functional bonuses and overtime bonuses from the first overtime hour onwards; the new collective agreement should be valid for twelve months.
According to the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS), employers are offering 2.70 euros more per hour, which would increase monthly wages by 432 euros to 470 euros. Improvements are also being offered in the allowances and surcharges, but not to the extent required. In addition, Verdi wants to agree on a term of 12 months, the employers want 24 months.
Security employees at commercial airports currently earn 20.60 euros an hour in the highest pay group – as “aviation security assistants”. If they work 160 hours per month, they get a basic salary of 3,296 euros gross. There are also surcharges for night work, Sunday work and holiday work as well as overtime.
But there are also security employees who sometimes earn significantly less. For activities such as boarding pass checks, securing access to security areas and aircraft guarding, the tariff provides for basic hourly wages of 17.84 euros, in some federal states only 16.95 euros. Anyone who passes the exam to become an aviation security guard can increase their basic wage to 18.32 to 19.49 euros, depending on the federal state.
There are even fewer at the lowest pay levels. “Qualified service activities and passenger services that require aviation security-specific and/or airport-specific training” are paid 14.46 euros per hour. “Simple services and passenger services” only cost 13.83 euros. The standard monthly salary calculated here based on 174 hours of work is only around 2,400 euros for simple tasks and 2,500 euros for qualified tasks.
Similar to the train driver company GdL, Verdi also argues that the conditions for airport employees must improve in order to have enough staff. “There is already a shortage of qualified workers who are willing to work extremely flexibly at the airports around the clock, on weekends and on public holidays – security in air traffic cannot be had for free,” says Verdi negotiator Pieper . “The employees expect fair treatment, fair wages and working conditions from their employers.”
The article first appeared on February 1, 2024 and has been updated for the current round of strikes