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Long queues in the terminal at Frankfurt Airport: many travelers get stuck
Photo: Michael Probst/AP
Around 300 ground staff at Stuttgart Airport will receive more money from August, according to the Ver.di trade union.
As a result of the agreement reached in collective bargaining with a subsidiary of the airport, warning strikes there are "off the table," the state association of the trade union in Stuttgart announced.
The warning strike at Lufthansa also has little effect at Stuttgart Airport because the airline only employs a few people there.
On Monday it was agreed that the employees who work at check-in and handle luggage, for example, should receive more than 18 percent more wages in two stages.
According to the union, the new collective agreement runs until the end of June 2023.
The agreement was possible "because the employer here in Stuttgart, also under the impression of the warning strike at Lufthansa, understood what a collective bargaining result must look like at an airport in 2022," said Ver.di negotiator Jan Bleckert.
“Wage increases that really and completely compensate for inflation and even add a bit of value to the professions.
This is the only way to fill vacancies.«
In Frankfurt, numerous travelers do not get any further
On the other hand, numerous passengers are stranded at Frankfurt Airport due to the warning strike by ground staff at Lufthansa.
After the initial emptiness in the terminal, long queues of travelers formed in front of the few manned counters on Wednesday morning.
According to eyewitnesses, it was mostly foreign tourists who wanted to rebook their onward flight.
The day before, Lufthansa had asked passengers to contact the company digitally if possible in order to organize new flights or temporary accommodation.
At the largest German airport, 725 of 1,160 planned flights were canceled on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the operator Fraport.
This also affects flights from other companies, which are usually looked after by Lufthansa ground staff.
Lufthansa itself had given the number of 646 strike-related flight cancellations for Wednesday.
Flights from Lufthansa Group companies such as Swiss, Austria, Brussels and Air Dolomiti were also canceled.
In addition, machines from Croatian, United, Air Canada or the Polish LOT could not take off.
Ver.di and Lufthansa held each other responsible for the situation.
Lufthansa deliberately refrained from negotiating again after the warning strike was announced, said Ver.di strike leader Marvin Reschinsky.
He is now hoping for a quick, good result.
“Lufthansa itself provoked that”
In an interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk, Dennis Dacke from the aviation department in the federal office of the Ver.di trade union defended the warning strikes: "Lufthansa provoked it themselves."
At first glance, the second round of negotiations did not appear to have come close to compensating for inflation, says Dacke.
"Lufthansa really didn't show any fundamental willingness to accommodate us during the negotiations either." Of course, compromises are talked about in collective bargaining.
"But if you don't show any willingness to compromise, you have to live with the consequences as an airline at this point."
Lufthansa spokesman Martin Leutke described the warning strike as "unnecessary, excessive and much too extensive".
The company finally submitted a substantial offer that could have been discussed further.
However, Verdi decided to settle the conflict on the backs of the passengers.
"It wouldn't have needed a strike like that."
ani/Reuters/dpa
