On Monday, airport workers in northern Germany are scheduled to go on strike, resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the inconvenience of tens of thousands of travelers.
The regional trade union Verdi requested that employees at the airports in Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen go on strike. Security personnel at Berlin Brandenburg Airport are on strike as a result of failed collective bargaining over pay for night and weekend shifts.
The coordinated strike is the most recent in a string of worker protests taking place this winter in Europe.
A notice on the city website stated that the strike at the airport in Berlin has resulted in the cancellation of 200 departing flights, impacting 27,000 passengers.
From Sunday at 10 p.m. to Monday at 11 p.m., “no regular departures will be possible,” Hamburg Airport advised. The airport stated that arriving flights “will still be possible,” but they could be postponed or canceled.
According to the airport, at least 123 flights scheduled for Monday departure will be impacted, and 121 flights scheduled for arrival could experience delays or cancellations as well. More than 30,000 passengers could be impacted, it said.
The airport reported that flights were “heavily booked” for Saturday and Tuesday to make up for the cancelled flights.
In an email, Lufthansa stated that it was anticipating “significant flight cancellations” and “massive disruptions to flight operations” on Monday in Germany.
A spokesperson for Lufthansa noted that the strike was related to a disagreement between the union and the airports, not with the airline, and that the company was informing customers, providing alternate flight routes, and, when practical, rebooking them on trains.
The spokesperson stated that operations should resume as soon as Tuesday.
Strikes this winter are causing disruptions outside of Germany. Last month, about 500,000 workers in Britain walked off the job due to disagreements about pay and working conditions, including teachers, bus drivers, and airport staff.
Since the war in Ukraine, Britain, like many other European countries, has been plagued by raging inflation and a rise in living expenses, which has pushed up the cost of food and fuel.
Last week, thousands of French workers demonstrated against President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. The measure was approved by the French Senate on Saturday night.
Wednesday, when lawmakers are expected to review the bill, strikes in France that disrupted public transportation last week are expected to resume, according to Reuters.
