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Cologne/Bonn Airport (archive photo): Standout from 4 a.m. to midnight
Photo: Thomas Banneyer / dpa
Consumer prices are exploding, wage demands are rising: the Ver.di trade union has called on the aviation security staff at Cologne/Bonn Airport to temporarily stop working in order to push through higher wages in the current round of wage negotiations.
The temporary strike call by the state district of North Rhine-Westphalia for this Wednesday is aimed at employees in personnel and goods control as well as freight control.
The walkout should last from 4 a.m. to midnight, the union said.
Initially, nothing was known about major disabilities or delays in the morning.
"Passenger controls at Cologne/Bonn Airport are not affected by the strike," the airport said.
"Flight operations are currently not affected."
It's about the wages of 25,000 employees
According to Ver.di, no agreement has yet been reached in two rounds of negotiations to increase the fees for security forces at commercial airports.
According to its own statements, it represents around 25,000 employees nationwide.
Although the employers had made an offer, this fell far short of expectations.
The warning strike hits the airports in a sensitive phase: Aviation is one of the sectors hardest hit by the corona crisis - and was still struggling in 2021.
The airports were not even half full in the summer.
»The offer does not reflect the price development in any way and contains zero months.
Above all, the harmonization of wages in the east with the west level will be postponed until the end of the day,« Ver.di negotiator Wolfgang Pieper criticized the previous offer.
“An equalization of ten cents an hour for one year means waiting another 22 or 29 years – until 2050 – until the same wages are finally paid in the East.”
The union demands a wage increase of at least one euro per hour for a period of twelve months.
In addition, the wages for aviation security staff responsible for freight and personnel/goods inspections with official inspection are to be raised to the level of wages for air security assistants (passenger inspection) based on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
As an argument for higher wages, Ver.di also referred to the lack of qualified workers.
According to Verdi, the negotiations will continue on March 1st and 2nd in Berlin. According to trade unionist Pieper, further work stoppages cannot be ruled out.
apr/dpa