As of: February 1, 2024, 9:09 a.m
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There is a closed security checkpoint at Berlin Brandenburg BER Airport.
© Christophe Gateau/dpa
The warning strike by security forces paralyzes Berlin's BER airport.
No plane can take off.
Numerous landings have also been canceled.
Schönefeld - The warning strike by aviation security staff began early on Thursday morning at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER).
An airport spokeswoman confirmed that all around 170 take-offs had been cancelled.
The strike is going as announced.
In addition, around every fourth arrival has been canceled.
The terminal was largely deserted.
Only a few passengers were looking for orientation.
The airport originally expected almost 50,000 passengers for Thursday.
The warning strike also affects other airports in Germany.
In addition, aircraft that have landed once cannot take off again from BER on Thursday.
“The first strikers have already gathered,” said a Verdi spokesman in the morning.
A rally with around 400 participants was planned for 9 a.m.
Employees who work in passenger screening, people and goods screening, cargo screening and in service areas are called to take industrial action.
According to Verdi, the warning strike at BER should end at 11:59 p.m.
Employees in the aviation security sector at Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Leipzig/Halle, Dresden, Erfurt, Frankfurt and Stuttgart airports are also called to take industrial action.
The approximately 25,000 employees of private security services work at the checks for passengers, baggage and staff, mostly on behalf of the federal police.
Without them, access and therefore operation of the security areas is not possible.
In the collective bargaining dispute, Verdi is demanding a flat-rate increase in hourly wages of 2.80 euros and faster surcharges over a period of one year.
Aviation security assistants in the lowest salary group currently earn 20.60 euros an hour, which adds up to a gross salary of almost 3,300 euros for 160 monthly working hours.
There are also surcharges for night work, Sundays and public holidays and overtime.
The demand takes into account the loss of purchasing power due to inflation and includes an increase in wages, explained Verdi.
The last time there were warning strikes by aviation security was in March last year.
At that time it was about the working conditions of the employees, who had achieved significant wage increases in recent years.
At BER, all takeoffs and around a third of the planned landings were canceled during this warning strike.
According to their own information, employers from the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) have offered 4 percent more money for this year and 3 percent more money for next year.
In addition, overtime bonuses should be paid at an earlier point in time than before.
Verdi's demands add up to 250 million euros in additional costs this year alone, complains the BDLS.
Contrary to what the union claims, not every wage increase can be refinanced through aviation security fees.
For further negotiations, two further rounds have been agreed for February 6th and 7th and February 21st and 22nd.
dpa