Berlin – If you want to use Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) in Schönefeld on Monday, you should look for alternatives – or plan significantly more time. Almost a year and a half after its opening, the new capital city airport is the scene of a warning strike for the first time. The Verdi union has called on aviation security workers to stop working from 4 a.m. to midnight. There will be serious disruptions to passenger control, personnel and goods control, it said. “Passengers must expect severe impairments,” said Verdi Secretary Enrico Rümker on Saturday. He anticipates that very few security check lines will be open — if any.
Not only the employees who check the passengers at BER were called to walk out. According to Verdi, the employees at the entrances to the airport premises should also join the warning strike on Monday. This means, for example, that a large proportion of the employees working on the airport apron cannot come to work. Because the baggage checks are also affected, the few planes that can take off will take off without the passengers’ suitcases and bags, said Verdi Secretary Rümker.
Employers are offering a wage increase of 38 cents an hour
All companies that are active in aviation security at BER are included – including Securitas and Frasec. The employees currently earn around 19 euros gross per hour, in some areas they are only paid 14 to 15 euros, according to the union. In the ongoing tariff dispute with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS), Verdi is charging one euro more per hour. “The employer side, on the other hand, offered 38 cents. That’s not enough,” says Rümker. The dispute is also about leveling regional wages to the highest level and different payments in East and West. “If the harmonization progressed as employers imagine, the process would not be completed until 2050,” calculated the Verdi secretary.
“The work of the aviation security forces must remain financially attractive so that the specialists that are urgently needed can be recruited and retained. Therefore, wages must be increased by at least one euro. The employer offer is far below what the employees demand. In addition, the employers want to enforce zero months,” criticized Verdi negotiator Wolfgang Pieper. “Already there is a shortage of skilled workers willing to work extremely flexibly at the airport 24 hours a day, weekends and holidays,” he said.
There will also be a strike on Monday at the airports in Bremen, Hanover, Leipzig, Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn. “Now there will be a work stoppage at BER for the first time,” said Rümker. A rally is planned for Monday at 8 a.m. on Willy-Brandt-Platz in front of the airport. The negotiations for around 25,000 employees nationwide should continue on Wednesday and Thursday. So far there have been three rounds.