The trade union Ver.di is taking the next step in escalating the public sector wage dispute. The new wave of warning strikes is targeting sensitive infrastructure, with eleven German airports set to be affected on Monday, March10. Public service and ground handling employees at Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin-Brandenburg and Leipzig-Halle airports have been called out. Passengers should brace themselves for flight cancellations and delays.
The background to the strike is the ongoing wage dispute with the federal government and local authorities, with the next round of negotiations scheduled for mid-March. Recently, employees in hospitals, nursing homes, kindergartens, and other social institutions have taken part in industrial action.
The union criticises the employers from the federal government and local authorities for not presenting an offer during the second round of collective bargaining in mid-February. Ver.di is demanding a wage increase of eight per cent, or at least €350 more per month, as well as higher bonuses for work during unsociable and burdensome hours. Training allowances and intern pay are to be increased by €200 per month. Additionally, the union is calling for three extra days off.
The employers have rejected these demands as unaffordable. The collective bargaining negotiations will resume in Potsdam on March 14, 2025, and are set to last for two days.
The 24-hour strike is set to commence at midnight on Monday and will last until 11:59 pm. Striking workers are expected to gather for a rally in the morning.
In the current round of collective bargaining, strikes have already taken place at the airports in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Munich, resulting in numerous flight cancellations. At Frankfurt Airport, public employees last staged a warning strike in March 2023, at that time coordinated with the railway and transport union (EVG).
