Upcoming union strikes in Germany have led to the cancelation of scores of flights at Düsseldorf Airport and Cologne/Bonn Airport. Trade union ver.di has announced warning strikes to begin overnight on Sunday through to early Tuesday.
Strike cancelations next week
The latest industrial action from German trade union ver.di will see flights canceled at the two largest airports in North Rhine-Westphalia - Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) and Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN). The warning strike will begin first at Cologne/Bonn Airport overnight on Sunday, with action at Düsseldorf Airport to begin soon after - both strikes will end overnight Monday to Tuesday.
Andrea Becker, head of the regional department of Verdi North Rhine-Westphalia, commented,
"With these strikes, the employees are putting pressure on their respective employers, because no acceptable offer has been presented in the negotiations carried out so far in the public sector."
Aviation website FlightAware shows 29 outbound and 27 inbound flights at Düsseldorf Airport have been canceled on Monday thus far, with nine outbound and seven inbound services scrapped at Cologne/Bonn Airport. Both airports have also canceled scores of flights today (Sunday), with 35 flights at Düsseldorf at 12 at Cologne/Bonn given the chop.
Frank Werneke, chairman of ver.di, remarked earlier this week that, following yet another round of unsuccessful negotiations, the union would "up the ante" in terms of collective action. Werneke said on Thursday,
"The employer's offer, in terms of amount, duration and the lack of social compensation, causes disappointment and rejection among employees. People find that disrespectful and will not accept it. With the content of their offer, the employers did not solve the collective bargaining conflict. The consequence is: the warning strikes are being expanded."
Emirates Düsseldorf flights affected
Multiple Emirates flights between Dubai and Düsseldorf have been impacted by the strike - flight numbers EK055, EK056, EK057, and EK058 are canceled this Monday.
Emirates said,
"Customers connecting to Düsseldorf on the impacted flights will not be accepted for travel at the point of origin. We regret any inconvenience caused to our customers."
This is the latest warning strike to impact operations at Düsseldorf Airport following a similar walkout last month which led to around 90 flight cancelations and scores of delays. The union has also called on all public sector employees in the greater Cologne, Bonn, and Leverkusen area to participate in the all-day warning strike this Monday, which is set to impact the region's wider transportation network.
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The latest warning strike
Ver.di's upcoming strike is the latest industrial action put forward by the union, which is seeking a 10.5% pay rise for over 2.5 million federal and local employees under its wing. The impact of the strike will only be minor in comparison to the huge strikes launched across major German airports last Friday.
Approximately 300,000 passengers and 2,300 flights were affected during last week's warning strikes impacting seven German airports - Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover, and Dortmund. During the last round of negotiations, ver.di members were offered a 5% salary increase in two steps and one-time payments totaling 2,500 euros, which the union rejected as "completely insufficient." Ver.di adds that negotiations will continue between March 27th and March 29th at Potsdam.
Have your flights been affected by the latest warning strike in Germany? Were you impacted by last week's strikes? Let us know in the comments.
Source: FlightAware