There will be a nationwide strike by employees in the aviation security industry on Thursday. Travelers at Frankfurt Airport must therefore also expect delays and cancellations.
Update, January 30th: After the pilots and cabin crew of the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines went on strike last Friday, but only caused a few flight cancellations at Frankfurt Airport, the Verdi union is now said to have called on the security staff to strike, according to information from Hessischer Rundfunk . On Thursday, February 1st, the 25,000 employees in the aviation security industry nationwide will stop work from early morning until midnight, thereby paralyzing air traffic.
Verdi has not yet officially commented on the strike plans. The union is currently demanding, among other things, more salaries for its employees. No agreement has been reached in three previous rounds of negotiations; further talks are scheduled to take place next week. Verdi has called for a nationwide warning strike on public transport for Friday, February 2nd.
Lufthansa subsidiary Discover is on strike on Friday
First report, January 24th: After both farmers and the train drivers’ union (GDL) went on strike nationwide, and the latter is currently doing so again, the pilots and cabin crew of the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines are now also stopping their work. There will also be a strike at Frankfurt Airport on Friday, January 26th, from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.; A strike café will be available in the union premises from 6:30 a.m. This emerges from a circular from the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, as the Hessenschau reports.
According to the Cockpit association, almost 96 percent of union members voted in favor of a strike on Tuesday. A strike date has not been announced for the time being. The Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO) has also called on its members for the same period to “strike on all EW Discover GmbH flights departing from Germany on Friday,” according to a press release from the flight attendants union.
So far, no collective agreement for pilots and cabin crew
“The employer has expressed within the last two years that it does not want to enter into negotiations about our claim. Only when he expected further escalation did he try to stall us by offering to talk to the members of the collective bargaining committee. He did not submit a tariff offer. However, this was requested of us,” it continues. According to Hessenschau, the VC also declared the negotiations over an initial collective agreement for the approximately 420 pilots of the holiday airline Discover Airlines to have failed.
Shortly before Christmas Eve, on December 23rd, the pilots had already struck the Lufthansa subsidiary’s flights departing from Germany for a period of five hours; at that time, all flights could be rescheduled. Long-haul flights in Frankfurt are expected to be affected on Friday, “all short- and medium-haul flights will take place according to current planning,” Discover Airlines writes on its website.