Airport workers decided to strike again upon the call of the German labor union Verdi.
Employees at Hamburg, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Cologne-Bonn airports started a 48-hour strike from midnight last night. The strike is expected to end at 00:00 local time on Friday night, while Stuttgart Airport employees will join the strike tonight at midnight.
The strikes greatly affected flight traffic in the country. One out of every two flights at Cologne-Bonn Airport has been cancelled. In a written statement from the airport, it was stated that flight cancellations could increase and passengers were asked to check their flight status. In the statement made by the German Airports Association, it was stated that at least 700 flights planned from 3 airports were canceled and at least 100 thousand passengers are expected to be affected by the strikes.
Labor union Verdi is in talks with the Federal Association of Aviation Safety Companies to increase employee surcharges for night shifts, weekends and public holidays.
Despite the large-scale strikes in the recent period, the union, which has not yet reached an agreement, aims to increase the pressure on employers before the talks to be held on April 27-28.