Flights Grounded Across Germany as Security Screeners Go on Strike

An estimated 200,000 passengers were expected to be affected by the action at 11 major airports, the latest show of labor unrest in the country.


Security screeners during a strike at an airport in Frankfurt on Thursday.Credit...Ronald Wittek/EPA, via Shutterstock
Striking workers, many wearing high-visibility vests and one banging a drum slung around his shoulder, walk through an airport.
Christopher F. Schuetze

By Christopher F. Schuetze

Reporting from Berlin
Feb. 1, 2024Updated 7:48 a.m. ET

Security screeners began a one-day walkout at 11 of Germany’s busiest airports on Thursday, bringing departures to a virtual standstill, scuttling travel plans for an expected 200,000 people and adding to the chaos caused by public-sector strikes.

Airports serving Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart canceled all departures in anticipation of the work stoppage, while others — including Frankfurt’s airport, the biggest in Germany — were trying to keep some flights in the air but warned of significant delays and cancellations.

Wolfgang Pieper, a lead negotiator for Verdi, the public sector union behind the strike, said that the work of airport security staff “must remain financially attractive so that the urgently needed skilled workers can be recruited and retained.” Screeners are demanding an hourly raise of 2.80 euros, or about $3, a 14 percent increase for a starting salary.

The federal association of aviation security businesses, which represents employers, called the demands “utopian.” It has offered a 4 percent increase this year, followed by a 3 percent rise next year.

FULL story: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/world/europe/germany-airport-strike-depatures.html