The second wave of warning strikes by aviation security staff began at Hanover Airport on Thursday evening. A spokesman for the Verdi union confirmed that the first security forces had been on strike there since 10 p.m.
Initially, only the employees responsible for checking cargo and crew members stopped work, and from midnight there will also be a strike in passenger control. The warning strike is scheduled to last until Friday at 12 p.m.
No departures until 12 p.m
The airport had previously announced that there would be no take-offs with passengers from Hanover on Friday between midnight and 12 p.m. Most departures were canceled, some airlines postponed departures to times before or after the strike or switched to other airports such as Braunschweig or Paderborn. Incoming machines, however, would continue to be processed. Unlike many other airports, there is no ban on night flights in Hanover.
The warning strike is to be gradually expanded to other airports on Friday – including Dortmund, Weeze, Dresden, Leipzig and again Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
Five airports on strike
Warning strikes by security staff at five German airports had already largely brought operations to a standstill on Thursday. The airports in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Cologne/Bonn and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden were affected. As a rule, all departures were canceled because passengers and goods could no longer go through security checks. There were also numerous failures during the landings. According to estimates by the airport association ADV, more than 580 flight connections were canceled. The association expects a significantly lower number of canceled connections for Friday.
With the warning strikes, Verdi wants to increase the pressure on employers before the next round of negotiations on March 20th. The collective bargaining in aviation security concerns the wages and working conditions of around 25,000 employees of private security service providers.
