German union calls for 2-day strike at several airports

BERLIN

A German union on Tuesday announced that it will launch a strike at several airports on Thursday and Friday amid an ongoing dispute over pay and work conditions.

In a statement on its website, ver.di union said the 48-hour strike of security staff at Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne-Bonn airports will begin in the early hours of Thursday and continue until Friday midnight.

Passengers were warned of possible flight cancellations , delays, and longer waiting times at these airports.

The union is demanding an increase to overtime pay, and surcharges for work on weekends, public holidays, and during night shifts.

The latest round of negotiations between the union and the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) ended without an agreement last week.

"We call on the BDLS to finally present a negotiable offer during the negotiations on April 27th and 28th in order to avoid further strikes,” ver.di’s representative Wolfgang Pieper said.