Berlin Airports Ground Staff Strike Extended

March 13, 2017

Ground services staff at Berlin’s Tegel and Schönefeld airports have extended their strike until Wednesday in an ongoing dispute over pay.

Workers walked off the job at 04:00 on Monday and are now due to return on Wednesday at 05:00 local time. Berlin airports warned of severe disruption and that flight restrictions may continue for a time after the strike ends.

Lufthansa has cancelled its flights from Frankfurt and Munich to Berlin. Passengers on cancelled flights can request a refund or rebook free of charge, the airline said.

Eurowings said its flights to and from Berlin were subject to cancellations and disruptions, with delays possible throughout the route network.

Ryanair cancelled 76 flights on Monday to and from Berlin and said further cancellations were possible and delays likely.

easyJet said it was working to reduce the impact of the strike, but there would be cancellations and significant delays.

The Verdi union that represents the ground staff extended the strike by 24 hours as management is opposed to negotiations, it said in a statement.

Verdi said the offer received last week of an 8 percent increase over three years was unanimously rejected. A compromise solution must contain a significant income improvement, Verdi said.

The union is pursuing an increase in hourly rates of one euro, with workers currently receiving about EUR€11 an hour.

(Airwise)