“The situation in the terminal is calm,” said a spokesman for Düsseldorf Airport on Monday. Many passengers did not even start their journey to the airport because they had been informed in advance by their airlines about cancellations. 205 of the originally planned 330 flights were canceled in Düsseldorf. 29 flights were diverted to other airports, seven flights were postponed to Tuesday.
The Düsseldorf airport fire brigade was also affected by the strike call. According to the Komba trade union, which called for the strike, an emergency service was agreed for the plant fire brigade. Special flights are excluded from the work stoppages – including relief flights to Turkey or flights for medical emergencies.
In Cologne, the work stoppages led to significant losses. “Due to the warning strikes, there is no regular passenger air traffic at Cologne/Bonn Airport today,” the operator said. Large parts of the airport staff took part in the strike. A total of 136 passenger flights were planned. Of these, 134 failed. Around 15,000 travelers were expected on the day of the strike.
The planned walkout at both airports began early Monday morning. An end to the 24-hour strikes was expected early Tuesday morning. According to Verdi, the measures were announced at an early stage in order to provide relief.
The background to the strikes are the collective bargaining for employees in the public sector at the federal and municipal levels, as well as local negotiations for employees in ground handling services and the nationwide negotiations for employees in aviation security.
Verdi and the German Association of Civil Servants had recently rejected an employer offer from the federal government and local authorities in the second round of collective bargaining. The unions are demanding 10.5 percent more salary, but at least 500 euros a month. The third wage round is planned for March 27th to 29th in Potsdam.
