Due to warning strikes, many connections at Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn airports are canceled today. The first work stoppages began late last night.
According to the Verdi union, aviation security employees in Cologne/Bonn were called upon to take part in the warning strike – i.e. employees in personnel and goods control as well as freight control. “All control points are closed,” said a Verdi spokesman.
The airport announced yesterday afternoon that 131 scheduled passenger flights could not take place between 6 a.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday. 136 are regularly planned during this period.
According to Verdi, the warning strike has also begun at the airport in Düsseldorf. A spokesman confirmed this early in the morning. “The strike has been going on since 3 a.m., and around 700 to 800 strikers are expected throughout the day,” he said. An airport spokesman said that of the 330 arrivals and departures planned for today, 89 flights are to take place. 205 flights were canceled, the rest were postponed to the following day or moved to other airports.
Exceptions for ambulance and relief flights
In any case, they want to maintain emergency operations, the airport said. Emergency service agreements have been made with the unions. Last but not least, it is about ambulance and relief flights. Passengers were informed about changed flights via the airlines at the weekend, so only a few guests came to the airport this morning.
The Verdi and Komba unions have called for the warning strikes. The background to this is the negotiations for employees in the public sector at the federal and municipal level, as well as the nationwide negotiations for employees in aviation security.
In Cologne there had also been legal disputes between the airport and Verdi over the occupation of the airport fire brigade. In the end, both sides agreed that it must include 24 emergency workers during the warning strike.
Child care and hospitals also affected
In addition to the two largest airports in NRW, there are also warning strikes in many other areas of public life in the most populous federal state, such as on buses and light rail vehicles, in daycare centers and offices. Several rallies are also planned.
Among other things, Verdi announced that many daycare centers in Cologne, Bonn, Troisdorf, Hennef and Gummersbach would be affected by the warning strikes. Municipal hospitals and waste disposal companies in the Verdi district of Cologne-Bonn-Leverkusen are also affected. Citizens would have to be prepared for longer waiting times in offices. In Münsterland, Verdi called for warning strikes at some city administrations and municipal companies.
The employers had presented an offer during the nationwide negotiations for employees in the federal and local governments. It includes, among other things, a pay increase of five percent in two steps and one-off payments totaling 2,500 euros. The unions rejected the offer as insufficient. Verdi and the civil servants’ association are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month.
Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue on March 27th.
